With as many people affected by Typhoon Haiyan as the populations of Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide combined, CARE Australia is 
urging people to support CARE’s global appeal to raise $5 million to help families devastated by one of the largest storms ever recorded.
“In the port city of Ormoc, every wooden house is destroyed. The concrete houses are like shells. Electricity poles have been broken like toothpicks. At the port, people are lining up at food and hardware stores. People are getting water from broken pipes that are lying out in the open. There’s no other source of water here.”
An estimated 9.5 million people have been affected by the typhoon, with 10,000 people feared dead. CARE International teams have arrived in the Philippines to assist with what is planned to be one of the biggest international emergency relief efforts in years.
CARE Australia CEO Dr Julia Newton-Howes said Southern Leyte Province and Samar felt the full force of Typhoon Haiyan. “Our teams are reporting scenes of complete devastation, with entire communities flattened, and countless families having lost everything – their loved ones, their homes and their livelihoods. Many parts of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Samar and Eastern Samar remain cut off, and without food, water or shelter, the need for immediate emergency supplies is critical,” she said.
CARE’s Sandra Bulling, who is in the coastal town or Ormoc, in Southern Leyte, described scenes of complete devastation on the Pacific (eastern) coast.
Dr Newton-Howes said CARE’s preliminary response would support at least 150,000 people with emergency assistance over the coming months. She said that with the scale of Typhoon Haiyan’s impact, long-term support from the international community would be vital.
“Our immediate focus is on providing essentials such as shelter, water and food to communities hit hardest by this disaster. International support will be vital to preventing further loss of life and helping families begin the process of rebuilding their lives over the coming weeks.”
Australians wishing to support families affected by Typhoon Haiyan can donate via www.care.org.au/haiyan or by phone on 1800 020 046. The amount of $128 can provide eight water purification kits, $243 can provide food baskets for 10 families, or $480 can provide materials for 15 emergency shelters.
