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The Disasters Emergency Committee (the DEC) has advised the Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission (the Commission) that it is launching a national appeal in response to the devastation which Typhoon Haiyan has caused across the Philippines.
The Disasters Emergency Committee (the DEC) has advised the Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission (the Commission) that it is launching a national appeal in response to the devastation which Typhoon Haiyan has caused across the Philippines.
In is assessment of the impact of the typhoon the DEC has noted:
The typhoon was predicted but despite the action of the Philippines National to putting out timely warnings and evacuating some 748,572 people, the devastating winds caused enormous damage, killing an estimated 10,000 people.
Eye witnesses state that the devastation in Tacloban city on the coast can be likened to a tsunami, bringing to mind the 2004 Boxing Day event and Japan 2011. The damage has put airports out of action; brought down power and communication lines; roads have been rendered impassable due to debris - all of this is currently hampering the assessment and relief efforts.
As a clearer picture emerges indications are that the humanitarian impact of Typhoon Haiyan is massive. Besides the Tacloban City, significant casualties can be expected in areas where the eye of the storm passed, including Guiuan in Eastern Samar - a narrow peninsula where the typhoon first made landfall - and Bantayan Island in the northern tip of Cebu."
Deputy Mike O'Hara, Commission Chairman, said:
In agreeing to make a donation of £50,000 to the DEC appeal, the Commissioners were very conscious that the impact of the typhoon is massive. We have all seen the pictures of the scale of the devastation the typhoon and resultant tidal surges have left in their wake. We can only start to imagine on the people of the Philippines - some many of who have lost family members and friends and their homes and possession.
Further, we are all conscious that in recent years, many of the nursing staff in our hospitals and care homes have been recruited from the Philippines and some have settled in Guernsey. These people have cared for us and our loved ones and it is now our turn, in a small way through this donation, to care for the people of the Philippines.
I am sure Islanders will support the Commission's decision to make this donation to assist the agencies working under the DEC umbrella in its work to help the people of the Philippines in the aftermath of this terrible disaster.
