World Vision prepares to respond to 11,000 families likely to be impacted by typhoon Hagupit

World Vision prepares to respond to 11,000 families likely to be  impacted by typhoon Hagupit.

As typhoon Hagupit bears down on Eastern Leyte, World Vision is prepared to respond to 55,000 people with emergency essentials composed of family kits, hygiene kits, food and general emergency items. 

Operations Director Jennifer MacCann said teams in Leyte and Panay areas have activated disaster plans and are on standby to quickly respond. MacCann says, “Over 1,000 prepositioned emergency kits are ready for immediate distribution at the warehouse. Our response staff are monitoring situations in these areas and in close coordination with local partners and government units.”

While typhoon Hagupit is not expected to be as strong typhoon Haiyan, the projection is that it is still capable of causing serious destruction, blowing roofs and causing storm surges. Response Director Andrew Rosauer adds, “Our commitment is to provide relief assistance to as many survivors as we can the fastest time possible. We have experts on the ground to make this possible to help save lives and assist people to safety.”

Thousands of families have trooped to evacuation centers since Wednesday this week. Joy Manado, 47, was worried for her family as she brought them at the high school gym converted into an evacuation center. “We were just starting to rebuild our house and now we are faced with Hagupit”, she says smiling sadly. She and her son share an open space at the gym with 200 other families coming from four villages located at the coastlines of Tacloban City.

Most stores and shops around the city have been closed down since Thursday. The streets were deserted at night, few people venturing out for fear of safety and sudden weather changes. The general sense of fear and worry can be felt all over the city now as winds howl - sounding like large trucks. 

'No one knows what to truly expect, but people have taken all the necessary steps to be as prepared for Hagupit as possible. We will be there to stand with people in need, in the wake of the storm' Ms MacCann said.