Background and objective: Study of how natural disasters affect

their victims is key to improve prevention and mitigation. Typhoon

Ulysses just recently hit the Philippines today. In Quezon, several
roads and houses were washed away by strong winds. It is aimed to
understand Ulysses’ impact for community health and livelihood of
people near the affected place.
Methods: Online survey were conducted and using a random sample
approach based on the respondent’s feedback and insights on how to
mitigate the impact of typhoon on the said region.
Results: The three main aspects of concerns were raised namely
accessibility, safety and livelihood aspects. Accessibility was a main
difficulty, which prevented most rescue team to help the victims in the
search and rescue operations, causing other staff stuck in the middle
of casualties. Personal and family belongings of the victims were
destroyed causing anger and desperation among members of the
family.
Conclusions: Conflict between national and local government was
present in terms of financial aid and directions, making it difficult for
them to implement the procedure needed in a typhoon battered area
and priority of actions between the two levels of governance. Feeling
helpless was noticeably present among the victim’s face showing
anger, anxiety, depression, and hopelessness with sudden lost of their
love ones. Most of them were already instructed to leave the coastal
areas even before the typhoon landed but temporary housing was not
available for many of them that opt them to still in the low-lying areas.
It is still a long way to go for the National Disaster Risk Management
Council to further established safety and evacuation centers for the
largely affected population of the area and to facilitate financial aid for
faster recovery of the area and the community affected by the typhoon.