Typhoon Ketsana
Philippines
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| : ©REUTERS/Erik de Castro |
On September 26, Typhoon Ketsana slammed into Manila, the capital of the Philippines, deluging it with a month’s worth of rain in just 12 hours. The death toll from the storm stands at over 280 people. Over 2.5 million people have been affected. Nearly 700,000 are sheltering in evacuation centres. Two more tropical storms are expected to make landfall in the coming days.
“The people described it as if a tsunami came,” said UNICEF Philippines Chief of Health and Nutrition, Dr. Marinus Gotink. “In about one hour or less, the water levels rose up to four to five metres above their normal levels, which means that houses built alongside the river, bridges – everything was destroyed.”
UNICEF has lead responsibility among international relief agencies for responding to water, sanitation and nutrition needs. We also share responsibility for education, child protection and health. Our immediate focus is on the provision of clean water and adequate sanitation and hygiene, as well as ensuring privacy and dignity for girls and women.
UNICEF is on the ground in the Philippines continuing to deliver hygiene kits, essential medicines, water purification tablets, portable toilets, and family kits containing blankets and soap. View UNICEF Photo Essay
Viet Nam
People living in central Viet Nam’s coastal region and central highlands are coping with flooding and mudslides in the wake of Typhoon Ketsana. In Hue City, 70 percent of the area was flooded. Information coming from the affected countryside reports damaged homes, severely flooded villages, flooded paddy fields and destroyed crops. Millions are without electricity.
UNICEF is the lead agency coordinating the response on the ground in Viet Nam in the areas of water, sanitation and hygiene, nutrition and education. UNICEF is also responding to the protection needs of children, providing psychosocial help in response to the devastation and ensuring that children who are separated from their families are safe.
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| : ©REUTERS/Erik de Castro |
Cambodia and Laos
Laos and Cambodia are also coping with floods and mudslides that are cutting off whole communities in the wake of Typhoon Ketsana. UNICEF is working closely with government and partners in these countries on rapid assessment and response to the situation.
In all cases, UNICEF is concerned about the typhoon’s long-term effects on children, including health risks posed by the widespread flooding and inadequate safe-water supply.
