OCHA Situation Report No. 5
The Philippines: Typhoon
11 December 2006


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

This situation report is based on information received from the 
Philippines National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), the 
Philippines National Red Cross (PNRC) and the UN Resident Coordinator's 
Office (UNRC). Situation

1. Typhoon Utor ("Seniang" in the Philippines) made landfall on 
south-eastern Samar, about 660 kms southeast of Manila, at 1300H on 9 
December with maximum sustained winds of 120 kph near the centre and 
gustiness of up to 150 kph. This is the fifth typhoon to sweep through 
the country this season.

2. Public storm warning signal (PSWS) no. 3 was declared in Region 8 and 
northern areas of Regions 6 and 7 in central Philippines.

3. Initial reports indicate that winds have destroyed government 
offices' windows in Region 8 where power outage has also been reported.

4. PSWS no. 2 was declared in Sorsogon, Albay and Mindoro provinces 
while PSWS no. 1 was declared in Catanduanes, Camarines Sur and 
Marinduque provinces. These areas, which were severely hit by Typhoon 
Reming (Durian), will experience cloudy skies with scattered rain 
showers and thunderstorms. Continuous heavy rains are not expected and 
therefore do not pose significant threat to the families previously 
affected by Typhoon Durian.

5. Utor is not expected to strengthen into a category 4 (super-typhoon) 
weather disturbance and is expected to be out of the Philippines' Area 
of Responsibility the afternoon of 11 December.

6. Residents in areas where warnings we issued, have been alerted 
against possible floods, landslides, and sediment-laden lahar 
flows/mudflows in communities lying along the outer vicinity of five 
active volcanoes.

7. As of this report, two people are dead, three injured and three 
missing. A total of 91,121 people are affected while 90,295 are in 59 
relocation centres. It is reported that 8,983 stranded passengers have 
been reported in the different seaports in the central parts of the 
country.

8. In its latest update (09 Dec 06) on the effects of Typhoon Durian, 
NDCC reported 635 people confirmed dead, 764 missing and 2,143 injured 
with a total of 2,560,374 people affected in 148 municipalities and 12 
cities covering 13 provinces in Regions 5, 4-A and 4-B.

9. A total of 109,411 people have sought refuge in 475 designated 
evacuation centres.

10. Latest NDCC reports indicated that 122,269 houses were totally 
destroyed while 218,747 were partially damaged.

11. In Catanduanes, Albay and Camarines Sur Provinces, reports reaching 
NDCC indicated that damage on medical facilities and lack of power 
generation capacity of hospitals have seriously affected the delivery of 
emergency medical services.

12. As of the last NDCC report, damage to properties was estimated to be 
over PHP 3.3 billion (approximately USD 66.4 million) comprising of 
infrastructure damages and agricultural losses.

13. The main roads in the affected provinces have been cleared however 
widespread power and communications outages remain in most affected 
areas; while two mobile phone companies are generally working in 
Camarines Sur and Albay provinces with downtimes at some point of the 
day, the only means of communication in Catanduanes is a Single Side 
Band (SSB-HF) radio with links to Legaspi City in Albay and NDCC OPCEN 
in Manila.

National and International Response

14. On 8 and 9 December, the NDCC facilitated 10 airlift sorties of 150 
tons of food, NFIs, medical teams and equipment, and water purifying 
systems for the affected population in Camarines Sur, Albay and 
Catanduanes provinces.

15. Search and retrieval operations in the affected areas have been 
extended until 15 December 06.

16. The Government's Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 
distributed a total of 1,514 tents donated by China (930), Saudi Arabia 
(284), Japan (150), and Singapore (150) benefiting the same number of 
displaced families in the affected areas.

17. The Department of Health and WHO are jointly conducting a more 
specialized assessment of urgent health needs in the priority areas 
building upon the earlier rapid assessments conducted by the NDCC and 
the UN Country Team.

18. Fire trucks are delivering water for daily use in priority areas in 
Camarines Sur and Albay provinces.

19. NDCC deployed one water purification system to Camarines Sur 
province capable of generating 32,000 litres of drinking water daily; 
two water purification units capable of producing 120,000 litres a day 
were deployed in Albay province; the water purification system to be 
provided by UNICEF will be deployed to Catanduanes province.

20. Clearing operations of secondary and tertiary roads by government 
engineering units are still ongoing and repair of toppled electric posts 
and cables continue. Electric power is slowly being restored in 
Camarines Sur and Albay provinces.

21. NDCC indicates that the following are the priority needs:

|-----------+-------------------------------------|
| Emergency | Individual household tents          |
| shelter   |                                     |
|-----------+-------------------------------------|
| Health    | Disease surveillance, medicines and |
|           | vaccines, power generation for      |
|           | hospitals in priority location      |
|-----------+-------------------------------------|
| Food      | Rice, noodles, canned goods, mongo  |
|           | beans, dried fish, infant food      |
|-----------+-------------------------------------|
| NFIs      | Sleeping mats, blankets, mosquito   |
|           | nets, adult and children's          |
|           | slippers, kitchen utensils,         |
|           | transistor radios with batteries,   |
|           | candles, flashlight with batteries, |
|           | jerry cans (20-liter capacity),     |
|           | cooking stoves, adult and children  |
|           | underwear, and hygiene kits (bath   |
|           | and laundry soap, toothbrush,       |
|           | toothpaste, face and bath towels,   |
|           | etc.)                               |
|-----------+-------------------------------------|
| Watsan    |Water tanks for water storage and  |
|           |daily use                          |
|-----------+-----------------------------------|


22. Urgent relief items are available and can be purchased in the 
country; provincial officials of affected areas request that purchases 
be made, as far as practicable, in their localities to pump prime 
economic activities.

23. Priority actions for NDCC at this stage include sustaining relief 
operations, disease surveillance, harmonization of damage and needs 
assessment activities, and completion of search and retrieval of the 
dead. Intermittent rains being experienced in the affected areas pose 
additional challenge to humanitarian workers and victims alike as these 
could give rise to common ailments like cough, colds, respiratory and 
skin infections.

24. Bilateral contributions from Indonesia, Singapore, Spain, Malaysia, 
Republic of Korea, China, Japan, Australia, Canada, Israel and United 
States have amounted to USD 3,010,740.

25. The PNRC served 845 families in five evacuation centres in Albay 
Province. Food and NFIs donated through PNRC were airlifted to Albay, 
Catanduanes and Marinduque Chapters via military C-130 flights for 
distribution to the affected families.

26. The President directed on 9 December the organization of a 
200-vehicle convoy for 12 December to bring relief and medical aid to 
the victims of Typhoon Durian in the Bicol Region. The private sector, 
NGOs, and civic organizations have been enjoined to participate in the 
exercise.

27. The NDCC formally requested the UN Country Team, through the UNRC, 
to facilitate offers of assistance from donors and aid agencies; an NDCC 
Advisory was subsequently published to this effect.

28. The UNRC has submitted the inter-agency CERF proposal and the amount 
of USD 2,654,255 was approved to support emergency relief activities in 
the affected provinces.

29. OCHA ROAP and UNDP BCPR - Asia are jointly collecting information 
and other necessary input from UN and government sources to expedite the 
submission of an appeal for continuing emergency interventions leading 
to early recovery in the affected areas.

30. This situation report, together with the information on 
contributions and other ongoing emergencies, is also available on the 
OCHA Internet Website at http://www.reliefweb.int


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Fax: +41-22-917 00 23
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Press contact:
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