5 Years After Typhoon Haiyan

Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines five years ago. Though much has changed since then, the impact of the storm is still present on the island nation, as well as in the minds of those who responded to it. On the five year anniversary, members of USAID’s Disaster Assistance Response Team reflect back on the destruction of the storm and the resilience of the Filipino people.

Typhoon Haiyan laid waste to a vast region of coconut farmland, affecting tens of thousands of farmers. Photo credit: USAID/OFDA

On November 8, 2013 Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, struck the Philippines as one of the most powerful storms in recorded history. With 190 mile-per-hour wind gusts whipping up 40-foot waves, the massive storm made landfall six times, washing away entire neighborhoods, killing 6,300 people, and affecting 16 million others.

Map of Typhoon Haiyan’s path and USAID programs to help the affected communities. Map credit: USAID/OFDA

Before the storm struck, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance sent an advance team of disaster experts to Manila to lay the groundwork for the U.S. Government’s response. But even with their decades of experience, they were not fully prepared for the destruction they were about to see.

The Damage

Ben Hemingway was part of the advance team and one of the first international responders on the ground, surveying one of the hardest-hit areas just hours after the storm made landfall.

USAID DART Deputy Team Leader Ben Hemingway arrives in Tacloban. Photo credit: USAID/OFDA

“The night was thick with smoke from small fires that were the only light amidst the complete darkness. There was this overwhelming feeling of absence…absence of buildings and people. There was a growing sense of dread, knowing that the world had no idea what had happened in this area yet as there was no communications with the outside world.

At day break we made it into Tacloban, and it became clear what the silence was hiding. We were confronted by the full scale of devastation that we now know well. The shock and disbelief of the people that survived was indelible. Most people think about the end of the world, but for the people that lived here, this was their apocalypse.”

- Ben Hemingway, DART Deputy Leader

“We flew to Tacloban on a military aircraft. The door was open and we could see everything below. It went from a lush green to brown devastation as far as we could see.” ~Melissa Opryszko, USAID disaster expert. Photo credit: Noel Celis, AFP

USAID immediately deployed a 19-person Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to lead the U.S. humanitarian response. Al Dwyer led this team, arriving in Tacloban on military aircraft — the only way to access the area — to assess the damage.

“Once airborne, I was stunned at the extent of the damage and had never seen anything like that in my 20-year career. The storm surge from the typhoon had crushed everything inland for what seemed one to two miles, and as far up the coast as we could fly,” said Dwyer. “Behind the storm surge damage, the winds and flooding from the rain had destroyed the rest. We flew for an hour and it seemed that nothing had been spared. I was really at a loss for words.”

USAID’s Response

Relief Supplies

The DART’s first priority was to airlift critical relief supplies to help affected communities, and within 72 hours, USAID’s first shipment arrived in the Philippines.

“My job was to get our plastic sheeting, hygiene kits, and water containers from our warehouses in Dubai, Florida, and Italy to the Philippines as quickly as I could. As soon as the relief supplies arrived in Manila, they were loaded onto U.S. military aircraft and immediately headed out to the affected areas. The cooperation between USAID and the U.S. military was seamless and allowed us to get aid to people right away.”

- Bob Demeranville, DART Logistics Officer

The DART airlifted relief supplies from USAID/OFDA’s warehouses. As the DART’s logistics officers, Bob Demeranville and Brian LeFave (bottom right) were responsible for getting these life-saving shipments delivered as soon as possible. Photo credits: USAID/OFDA

Shelter

Typhoon Haiyan damaged or destroyed more than one million homes, so shelter was an immediate need for many families. “We needed to get a roof over people’s heads as soon as possible, but we also wanted to provide safe shelter, and help people make their communities better than before,” said Chuck Setchell, the DART’s Shelter and Settlements Expert.

The DART’s Shelter and Settlements Expert Chuck Setchell meets with community leaders to hear about shelter needs (left). People affected by Typhoon Haiyan use USAID-provided plastic sheeting to construct emergency shelters (right). Photo credits: USAID/OFDA

To take care of immediate needs, USAID provided heavy-duty plastic sheeting, but the DART also worked with partners to build transitional shelters to make it easier for people to improve and upgrade their homes.

Transitional shelters help families like the Sampan family (top right) recover. When people are able, they can gradually make improvements to their homes. Photos courtesy: Catholic Relief Services

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene

Another big concern in the immediate aftermath was health and hygiene.

“The debris piles were 20–30 feet high. It was also still raining. With all the standing water and debris, we were very concerned about the spread of disease.”

- Melissa Opryszko, DART Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Expert

USAID provided water containers for 124,700 families and helped restore the water system in the hard-hit city of Tacloban, bringing safe drinking water to 250,000 people. The DART also worked with partners, including Catholic Relief Services, to provide hygiene kits, including soap, toothpaste, and toothbrushes, to nearly 46,000 families.

Debris is removed to eliminate health risks and clear the way for people to rebuild (top left and right). USAID provided safe drinking water (bottom left) and hygiene kits (bottom right) to people affected by the disaster. Photo credits: USAID/OFDA

U.S. Military Support

Typhoon Haiyan completely destroyed airports and seaports, and the roadways were blocked with hundreds of tons of debris. USAID requested the unique capabilities of the U.S. Defense Department’s Pacific Command to help transport aid workers and relief supplies to the storm-affected communities.

“We’d have nearly 20 flights a day from Manila to Tacloban moving food, plastic sheeting, humanitarian personnel, you name it. We’d spend all night checking humanitarian cargo and helping it get loaded onto U.S. military aircraft. Then we’d spend all day handling requests from the humanitarian community to transport other relief supplies and aid workers.”

- Dan Dieckhaus, DART Civil-Military Affairs Coordinator

In support of USAID’s response, the Department of Defense delivered 2,000 tons of relief supplies and more than 3,500 government and humanitarian personnel. Photo credit: Mark Ralston, AFP

In total, the United States provided $90 million in humanitarian assistance to help the people affected by Typhoon Haiyan.

“I was extremely proud to be an American after the Haiyan response. It was the worst natural disaster I’d seen in a long career and I was happy to have been a part of the tremendous help that the United States could quickly bring to so many people who had suffered.”

- Al Dwyer, DART Leader

Resilience and Life After Haiyan

“Filipinos took care of themselves, their families, and their neighbors in remarkable fashion. They didn’t wait for others.”

- Chuck Setchell, DART Shelter and Settlements Expert

In addition to serving as the DART Deputy Team Leader, Ben Hemingway continued to cover the Philippines as a USAID Regional Advisor following Typhoon Haiyan.

Over the years, Hemingway returned to the Philippines many times, watching as temporary structures were replaced by homes, and encampments transformed back into functioning towns.

In the days after Haiyan hit, even in the midst of devastation, our disaster team remembers seeing kids blowing bubbles (L) and people putting up Christmas decorations (R). Photos courtesy: USAID/OFDA and Ted Aljibe, AFP

“There is a deep sense of community that helps both honor those that were lost, and tries to heal to move forward. If you were not there to see the deepest wounds in their most vulnerable moments, you could pass through Tacloban now and not realize it was the location of such human suffering and devastation five years ago,” Hemingway said.

USAID/OFDA Regional Advisor Ben Hemingway in Tacloban two years after Typhoon Haiyan, meeting with people who received help from USAID. Photo courtesy: Catholic Relief Services

“The resilience of the people, and particularly for those that survived and persevered in Tacloban, will always be a point of great respect and humility for what goodness humanity can find in despair,” he added.

Read more about USAID’s response to Typhoon Haiyan and USAID’s current humanitarian efforts in the Philippines.

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