Emergency food supplies distributed in the Philippines after Typhoon Mangkut
Emergency food supplies distributed in the Philippines after Typhoon Mangkut
19 September 2018
The Salvation Army in the Philippines is providing immediate relief to some of the hardest-hit communities after Typhoon Mangkut smashed into the country.
The Salvation Army was ready to respond before Typhoon Ompong (also known as Typhoon Mangkhut) hit the Philippines, and a full emergency response began immediately as needs became apparent.
Initially, emergency food parcels including rice and canned meat and fish were distributed to 4000 affected families in the flood-hit region. This was augmented by the provision of clean drinking water and plastic bags to help residents with the clean-up of damaged properties.
More than a quarter of a million Filipinos have been adversely affected by the typhoon, one of the strongest South China Sea storms for many years.
Northern parts of the Philippines have been most severely hit, with flooding causing devastation in Northern Luzon, Bataan and Zambales.
The Salvation Army has now met with local government officials and plans have been developed to visit 100 families in the hard-to-reach Moncada community, which had been particularly badly affected by storm damage.
Salvation Army volunteers have also worked hard to pack and distribute supplies to 500 families in Ilocos Sur, an arduous five-hour journey from the supplies staging point in Urdaneta. The Salvation Army was the first organisation to reach this coastal community.
The typhoon struck just before a weekend of celebration for The Salvation Army’s Baguio Corps, which had made plans to mark 70 years of ministry in the city. Despite the building sustaining modest damage, and without electricity, the thanksgiving took place as scheduled on the Sunday morning with more than 150 people in the congregation.
After the time of worship, corps members went out into the community to distribute 90 packs of cooked food to people who had been forced from their homes by the deluge. They saw this as “just a practical extension of our worship celebration”.
To support The Salvation Army’s emergency response in the Philippines, donors can give securely to The Salvation Army’s South Pacific and East Asia Disaster Fund online.
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