News Alert China & the Philippines: Hundreds of thousands displaced by typhoons Saola and Damrey

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Gales and rainstorms lashed coastal regions of east China when typhoons Saola and Damrey made landfall in less than 10 hours on 2-3 August. In total, the storms forced the evacuation of about 204,000 residents in Zhejiang Province, 168,000 in Shangdong and 89,000 in Jiangsu, according to the National Commission for Disaster Reduction and the Ministry of Civil Affairs. In the Philippines, Saola (also known as Gener) damaged or destroyed at least 3,776 homes in northern Philippines. Some 16,759 people have taken refuge in evacuation centres and an additional 197,345 people are being supported outside of the shelters, many staying with friends or family. About IDMCThe Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) (www.internal-displacement.org) was established by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in 1998, upon the request of the United Nations Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC). Monitoring internal displacement caused by conflict, violence, human rights violations and natural disasters in over 50 countries, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) is widely respected as the leading source of information and analysis on internal displacement throughout the world.