When Typhoon Haiyan made landfall on the Philippines on November 8, it was clear that response, recovery, and reconstruction challenges could last for months to come. Haiyan’s wind speeds tied it with the equivalent speeds from Typhoon Tip–the strongest cyclone ever recorded in meteorological history. Haiyan’s strength was so incredible that it created the question of whether a Category 6 or 7 should exist on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.
Now, almost two months later, the immediate response operations have diminished, but over 100,000 people remain internally displaced. This is a situation deemed “unacceptable” by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. UN OCHAs camp coordination and management budget is only 20% funded, and finding durable, semi-permanent housing remain an extraordinary challenge in the impact zone.
According to the January 8, 2014 situation report from the Government of the Philippines, Haiyan claimed 6,183 lives, and 1,785 people are still missing. At its height, over 4 million people were displaced by the storm.
[Via: AccuWeather, ScienceBlogs/Greg Laden, UN Radio, Government of the Philippines via UN ReliefWeb]
