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Super Typhoon Haiyan, is expected to make landfall early Friday in the central Philippines with wind speeds above 150 mph – the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane.
Thousands of Filipinos have been evacuated to emergency shelters with massive flooding and landslides expected from the storm, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Yolanda. The storm is expected to hit Bohol province, where many families are still homeless in the aftermath of last month’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake.
“This storm system is so large that it could affect up to 4 million people, including earthquake survivors living in makeshift shelters,” Garrett Ingoglia, AmeriCares vice president of emergency response, said in a statement. “All of the reports indicate this will be a very serious storm and we’re prepared to deliver medicines and other critically needed aid for survivors.”
AmeriCares stocks medicines and relief supplies in its warehouses in anticipation of major storms, and pre-positions relief supplies in the Philippines and other disaster-prone areas ahead of emergencies, the statement said. The global health and disaster relief organization also has aid workers ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice.
AmeriCares has been aiding survivors of natural disasters, political conflict and extreme poverty around the world for more than 30 years. The organization has been delivering aid to the Philippines since 1985. To date, it has delivered $229 million in humanitarian aid to the country, including relief supplies for survivors of October's deadly earthquake.
In the aftermath, AmeriCares worked with partner organizations to distribute water purification tablets, personal hygiene items, baby care products and tarps to 1,200 survivors.
To donate to AmeriCares International Disaster Relief Fund go to americares.org/philippines.
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