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International Medical Corps Prepares to Provide Critical Medical Support to Hardest-Hit Areas Following Typhoon Koppu

by Jenna Montgomery | International Medical Corps - USA
Monday, 19 October 2015 22:05 GMT

Aurora, Philippines, International Medical Corps

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* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

October 19, 2015

LOS ANGELES/LONDON - With more than 100,000 people displaced so far by Typhoon Koppu in the Northern provinces of the Philippines, International Medical Corps remains concerned about the plight of those in hard-hit areas such as Aurora; there, our team on the ground reports widespread flooding caused by torrential rain has stranded entire communities, many of them without any means of communication.

“There are still many unknowns”, said Dr. Terence Emmanual Francisco, International Medical Corps health program manager for the Philippines. “At least 20,000 are in evacuation shelters with no knowledge about the state of their homes or the whereabouts of their loved ones. Crops, if not harvested in the days before the typhoon are likely to have been destroyed along with the loss of livestock. As reports come in about damage to health facilities we are aware of at least one hospital whose roof was ripped off by the violent winds. We can expect to receive many more similar reports.”

International Medical Corps prepositioned medical mobile kits and water/sanitation/hygiene supplies in advance of the storm. It is also coordinating with the Philippines government, UN agencies and other local and international relief groups. Our teams will begin to access the hardest-to-reach areas as soon as flood conditions make it possible to do so.

Koppu is the 12th storm to hit the Philippines this year. An average of 20 storms and typhoons each year batter the archipelago, one of the world's most disaster-prone, with a population of 100 million.

International Medical Corps has been operating in the Philippines since 2013, when Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most ferocious storms on record to hit land, tore through the central part of the country, leveling entire towns and leaving more than 7,300 people dead or missing. International Medical Corps has extensive experience in the region overall, having responded to the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, and the Japan earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

**In the midst of preparing for assessments and response, a 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck just south of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. While no damage reports have yet been received, this could have potentially triggered further landslides, adding to the existing vulnerabilities.

About International Medical Corps

Since its inception more than 30 years ago, International Medical Corps’ mission has been consistent: relieve the suffering of those impacted by war, natural disaster and disease, by delivering vital health care services that focus on training. This approach of helping people help themselves is critical to returning devastated populations to self-reliance. International Medical Corps has delivered more than $2 billion in humanitarian relief and training in 70 countries since 1984. Today its global staff of 7,800 provides assistance to devastated communities in the world’s hardest-hit areas, from Syria to Sierra Leone, Iraq to Afghanistan. Visit us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

PRESS CONTACT

Lisa Ellis
Director of Global Communications 
lellis@InternationalMedicalCorps.org
Los Angeles

Josh Harris
Communications Manager
jharris@InternationalMedicalCorps.org
London

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