Press Release

Philippines typhoon

Monday, August 4 2008

British Red Cross releases £104k to support Philippines recovery The British Red Cross has released £104,000 from its Disaster Fund to assist recovery in the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Fengshen.

More than 90,000 houses were totally destroyed and a further 320,000 seriously damaged in the June storm that killed almost 600 and affected up to 4m people in the country.

Money from the British Red Cross Disaster Fund will be used to provide emergency shelter kits for 1500 families as they seek to rebuild their lives.

"Fengshen was particularly destructive because it hit areas where typhoons are virtually unheard of, many of the houses in the area were simply not built to withstand the weather they were faced with," said Rachid Boumnijel, relief support officer for the British Red Cross.

"Two months on, many people are still in desperate need of support.
Local authorities are struggling to provide construction materials and building expertise to everybody who needs them, which is where the Red Cross comes in. The British Red Cross grant will help ensure 1,500 families have a safe and secure place to live as they get on with rebuilding the rest of their lives."

Families will be provided with a full set of construction materials, including roofing material, nails and timber, as well as tools and expert help from construction teams demonstrating how best to build the new homes.

"It may sound unusual to ask people to rebuild their own homes but, with the support and expertise the Red Cross is providing, it is the most effective way of making sure everyone has a roof over their heads in the shortest possible time," explained Roger Bracke, head of delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the Philippines.

"The techniques the Red Cross is teaching people are proven to be typhoon-proof so these homes people are building for themselves will provide their families with secure shelter for many years to come.

"The Philippines Red Cross Society, who are implementing the program on the ground, carried out a similar successful shelter programme following typhoon Durian in 2006".

The British Red Cross Disaster Fund grant will be administered through an appeal by the International Federation of the Red Cross for £4m to address the shelter and sanitation needs of 6,000 families affected by the typhoon, along with the establishment of disease prevention programmes and a typhoon early warning system.

"This grant from the British Red Cross is critical since many donors have been reluctant so far to provide their usual support, calculating that these are still early days in the 2008 Typhoon season which lasts until the very end of the year," added Roger Bracke.
 
"But how can we explain to a family who have lost all their belongings that we can't support the reconstruction of their home simply because it was destroyed too early in the season? The target beneficiaries are really the poorest of the poor and are in extreme need of our support.
With this grant we can now help another 1,500 families and that is excellent news." 
 
To donate to the British Red Cross Disaster Fund visit:
www.redcross.org.uk/disasterfund