Super Typhoon Rai

Coronavirus can be  a deadly risk for vulnerable families who have lost their homes. The impact in evacuation centers and host communities could be devastating.

We know that emergency shelter can save lives by slowing the spread of coronavirus. That’s why we need your support in emergencies like these.

While tropical storms like Typhoon Rai are a natural part of our climate, the severity of a storm like this is likely to be linked to climate change.

Rising temperatures are causing storms to become much more intense and have a far more devastating impact.

The Philippines is used to powerful storms. It is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons a year.

Super Typhoon Rai made landfall in the Philippines on Thursday,  December 16.

It hit the popular tourist island of Siargo with winds of approximately 110mph before traveling westwards across the Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Palawan.

The storm made landfall nine times across seven provinces in The Philippines, bringing torrential rain and the threat of widespread flooding.

At its peak, the typhoon had max sustained winds of 120mph with gusts of up to 150mph. Strong winds extended outwards 300 miles from the center.

After the initial landfall, Odette continued to downgrade in severity and exited the Philippine area of responsibility on December 18.

More than half a million families are still displaced. The death toll has risen to over 400 people and reports suggest over 800,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed. In total, 6.8 million people have been affected.

ShelterBox Chief Executive, Sanj Srikanthan said,

“This deadly typhoon has left hundreds of thousands of people displaced just before Christmas and the damage to homes we are witnessing is truly harrowing.

“The Philippines is a country still rebuilding having been ravaged by storms far too often, but Typhoon Rai is on a scale our team there simply haven’t seen before. It’s left large areas of the country decimated, and we’re expecting the death toll and damage reports to get much worse.

“We’ll be responding with emergency shelter that we have stored locally to help Filipinos whose homes were in the path of the storm – many who haven’t yet fully recovered from previous disasters.”