RAPID ASSESSMENT REPORT ON THE IMPACT OF

TROPICAL STORM WASHI (SENDONG)

I. INTRODUCTION

This report is produced by the Program Accompanier of the Philippines of the Catholic Agency
for Overseas Development (CAFOD) in cooperation with Ecosystems Work for Essential
Benefits (ECOWEB).

The report mainly covered the areas where ECOWEB is working but also incorporate overall
situation as presented by informants and published reports. This report is largely based on the
data and information gathered in Iligan City, the municipalities of Manticao and Naawan in
Misamis Oriental and the municipality of Taraka in Lanao del Sur. The areas primarily covered
by the report are the areas where ECOWEB is currently implementing various sub-components
of their Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Sustainable Livelihoods (DRR-SL) program.

The report mainly rely on ocular field visits, data and information gathered by partners,
interviews of people in their communities and by telephone, reports during meetings and official
reports from government agencies and civil society organizations.

The report is based on the information and data gathered from December 18 to 21, 2011.

II. GENERAL OVERVIEW

A. Typhoon Washi (Sendong)

The tropical storm WASHI , locally named Sendong, hit land in the south-eastern side of
Mindanao on December 15, 2011. The storm moved a western direction cutting across north-
Central Mindanao particularly in the province of Agusan del Sur, Misamis Oriental, northern
Bukidnon and the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City. It exited to the Bohol Sea in the early
morning of December 17 particularly along the stretch between Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City.

The storm packing maximum wind of 60 kilometers per hour and moving westward at the speed
of 30 kilometers per hour poured heavy rains for hours in the mountainous common boundary of
Misamis Oriental, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan City and Lanao del Sur causing massive landslides in
the mountain region bringing millions of tons of mud that cascaded down two major rivers:
Cagayan and Mandulog.

The region that tropical storm Sendong traversed is not used to storms. The highly urbanized
cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan are known to be outside the typhoon belt. Historically,
tropical storms partly passed over the region ones in every 50 years, however, most tropical
storm that entered in the eastern part of Mindanao and the Visayas usually bring heavy rains to
northern Mindanao causing floods and landslides.

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 B. Cagayan, Mandulog and the other rivers

Cagayan Rivers and Mandulog Rivers are two rivers that shared the same mountain ranges as
catchment, the Bukidnon-Misamis-Lanao Range. The mountain range that traverses the north-
central Mindanao region in a west to east direction is part of the Central Mindanao mountain
range. From the northern side of the mountain range, generally flowing northward is the Cagayan
River that cut across and empties into the city of Cagayan de Oro. On the other side, generally
flowing towards a southern direction is the Bayug-Mandulog River that traverses and empties
into the northern side of Iligan City.

Iligan City is a city situated in a delta that forms between two major rivers – the Mandulog River
in the north and the Iligan River in the south. In addition to the two rivers are several smaller
rivers and creeks that originate from the smaller mountain ranges surrounding the city proper.
All these smaller rivers overflowed and carried mud and debris to the city.

Also originating from the Bukidnon-Misamis-Lanao range are the Naawan and Manticao Rivers.
At the mouth of the two rivers are the town centers of municipalities of Naawan and Manticao.

Still originating from the Bukidnon-Misamis-Lanao highlands is another river, the Taraka River.
Unlike the other rivers, the Taraka River empties into Lake Lanao, the second largest lake in the
country. During the height of tropical storm Washi, Lake Lanao overflowed with water and
inundated most of the villages along its banks and tributary rivers. Among which is the
municipality of Taraka that is virtually located in the basin of Taraka River. In addition to the
Taraka River, other tributaries of Lake Lanao also overflowed but because the villages are in the
higher grounds they are not flooded.

C. Culture and Faith

The Bukidnon-Misamis-Lanao mountain region is a culturally dynamic region where the

Christians, Muslims and Indigenous peoples are present. From the Bukidnon, Misamis and
Cagayan de Oro side are the Christians who are mostly migrants from the Visayas and other
provinces in Mindanao. From the Lanao region are the Muslim Maranaos and from the Iligan
Misamis area are the indigenous Higaunons and Kalibugans who are either Muslims and
Christians.

In the upland regions, the communities affected were mostly Indigenous peoples while in the
lowlands and coastal areas are Christians and Muslims.

The affected communities are usually grouped along ethnic and religious lines making
emergency response more challenging. Leaders of each group, despite being in one affected
community want to be dealt separately. When asked about the situation of their communities,
they tend to assert their version of the story. This reality demands more cultural and religious
sensitivity when doing an emergency response.

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 D. Conflict and Political Dynamics

The Bukidnon-Misamis-Lanao mountain region is the location of common boundary shared by

the provinces of Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Sur, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City.
Under the administrative regionalization of the Philippines, the region is under the administration
of Region 10 and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The two regions are
at odds with each other. Region 10 whose area was almost totally logged decades earlier is
promoting a logging ban. On the other hand, ARMM where most of the remaining forests are
located, allow logging in their territory. Region 10 complained the policy of ARMM because the
erosion in the mountains resulted to the massive siltation of their rivers and to some extent to
their farms.

E. Logging, Mining and Quarrying

Logging has been operating in the mountain areas of Misamis-Lanao-Bukidnon for the last half
century. Second growth forests are now being logged by local loggers leaving only the most
difficult and inaccessible forests to remain. During the flash-flood hundreds of high grade cut
logs were washed out to the sea. Many of these logs remain in the shores of the Iligan Bay.
Accounts from survivors pointed that huge logs were the ones that destroyed the houses in the
villages along the Mandulog River. A number of survivors also testified seeing their family
members killed when hit by rampaging logs.

Massive quarrying is mainly done along the Mandulog River. Rocks along the river are crushed
to smaller pieces for as aggregates for road and building constructions. The large rocks that
prevents the smaller stones and debris to be washed to the lowlands and the river banks are now
gone allowing the rivers to scour the riverbanks and debris from the mountains to be washed
straight to the lowlands and the coastal areas.

Mining is a new extractive activity in the mountains of the Misamis-Bukidnon-Lanao. The

mining operation in the area is mostly small scale extracting gold, silver, copper and chromite.
There mining method is tunnelling and placer. The placer is quite massive because they use huge
hoses to bombard water to the mountain slopes allowing the mud to cascade down to their
sluicing channel where they capture the gold. Some suspect that the miners are also using
mercury to recover gold however, this is denied by the miners.

The clear risk in relation to the flash-flood is the contamination of the flood water with acid mine
drainage (AMD) from the exposed earth. This may cause skin irritation and deseases.

In the hinterland barangay of Rogongon, four major but illegal small-scale mining operations
were affected by the heavy rain and cloudbursts. The tailings pond of these mining groups were
all destroyed sending the tailings down to Mandulog and Iponan Rivers. People who worked in
the mining operation reveal that mercury is used in their gold extraction procedure.

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 F. Heavy Rain and Cloudburst

On December 16, IP leaders in the mountain regions of Iligan noticed the unsually heavy rain
accompanying strong winds. By early evening, cloudburst locally called buhawe were noticed in
barangays Rogongon, Panoroganan and Mainit.

By the following day, in Mainit, 137 opened slopes were noticed, more than 30 in Kalilangan
and 50 in Rogongon, including one that covers approximately 6 hectares (60,000 square meters)
of land including coconut, coffee and abaca farms to erode quickly down to Mandulog River.
The huge volume of water caused mountain slopes to collapse sending soil, rocks and water
down the rivers to become a deadly concoction of extremely heavy mud that swept communities
in the lowlands.

III. EXTENT OF THE DISASTER

The residents in the region, unaccustomed to storms, did not heed the early warning of the
national weather bureau thinking that the storm will just move northeastwardly. The incident
happened during sleeping hours and the water came from the mountains resulted to flashflood
so very quickly resulting to big number of casualties.

As of December 21, 2011, the disaster has impacted a total of 15,496 comprising 76,643
individuals in 3 municipalities and one city where ECOWEB is working. The disaster area that
was included in the assessment covered a total of 67 barangays or villages, all located along
the four rivers that overflowed its banks.

The barangays heavily affected by the disaster are mostly inaccessible by four-wheeled
vehicles. Some can be reached by motorbikes and horse. Others are only accessible by
walking.

Table 1: List of Barangays per river system by city and municipality

Iligan City Municipality of Municipality of Municipality of

Manticao Naawan Taraka
Mandulog River Iligan River Manticao River Naawan River Taraka River
Rogongon Abuno Upper Malubog Mapulog Salipungan
Panoroganan Pugaan Upper Digkilaan Tagbalogo Masolin
Kalilangan Tipanoy Mahayahay Poblacion Moriatao
Digkilaan Ubaldo Laya Balintad Bago Inged
Mainit Palao Tuod Lumbac
Hindang Mahayahay Patag Ilian
Mandulog Poblacion Punta Silom Salamatollah
Bonbonon Tubod Pagawan Pindolunan
Lanipao Tambacan Paniangan Buadi Dayomanga
Upper Hinaplanon Kabalantian Buadi Adengen
Hinaplanon Kamanga
Luinab Poblacion
San Roque Argayoso

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Sta. Felomina
Santo Rosario
Santiago
Tibanga
Saray-Tibanga
San Miguel
Bagong Silang
Del Carmen
Villaverde

In Iligan City, 11,396 families comprising 50,878 individuals coming from 30 barangays
(villages) were affected. Of the total number of families, 2,745 have partially damaged houses
while 2,780 have totally damaged houses while 5,871 are slightly damaged. The City was
declared to be in the state of calamity.

Of the total number of impacted people, 15,930 from 3,497 families are staying in 16
evacuation centers in the City.

In the municipality of Manticao in Misamis Oriental where ECOWEB is also working 13

villages of 1,170 families comprising of 5,850 individuals, including indigenous peoples,
where impacted.

In the municipality of Naawan in Misamis Oriental, 3 villages were affected with

undetermined number of families and individuals being affected.

In Taraka municipality in Lanao del Sur, another municipality where ECOWEB is working,
3,983 families comprising of 19,915 were also impacted by heavy rain and flash floods.

Government agencies as well us other private companies and groups had provided limited
assistance as well as other groups and individuals. These are in the form of food and non-food
items. In general, the support is not sufficient enough to answer the enormous need of the
victims.

Table 2: Summary of Affected Families and Individuals

Descriptive Items Iligan Mun. of Mun. of Mun. of TOTALS

City Manticao Naawan Taraka
Total population (2007 307,046 25,443 17,988 28,196 378,673
Census)
Total No. Of Barangays 44 13 10 43 110
No. Of Affected 30 13 3 10 56
Barangays
No. Of Affected 98,841 5,850 2,355 19,915 132,414
Population
Percentage of Affected 32 % 23 % 13 % 71 %
Pop. to Total Population
No. Of Affected Families 19,855 1,170 471 3,983 26,579

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No. Of Totally damaged 3,185
houses
No, of Partially damaged 17,443
houses

IV. FINDINGS

A. Shelter, Settlements and Non-Food Needs

The affected families in the areas covered by the assessment are staying with their relatives,
partly damaged houses, evacuation centers and makeshift shelters along roadsides. The most
common problem is the entry of water and mud in their houses. In some houses in the mouth of
the rivers, mud is waist deep making the clearing and cleaning a daunting task.

Categorization of Affected Families

Affected families could be categorized into three using the status of their livelihoods and
dwellings as the basic criteria. These categories are the following:

Category 1: those whose source of livelihoods is paralyzed, household properties are totally or
partially destroyed but the houses are not badly damage, only need cleaning and
minor repairs.

Category 2: those whose source of livelihoods is paralyzed, household properties are totally or
partially destroyed but the houses are badly damaged and need major renovation.

Category 3: those whose source of livelihoods is paralyzed, household properties are totally or
partially destroyed and houses are totally damaged or washed out.

Based on ocular community visits, interviews and estimates by barangay officials, Category-1
survivors are the most numerous. In Iligan where ECOWEB has done a sampling survey,
Category-1 survivors comprise the bulk of the affected households estimated at 14,360 or 72
percent of the total. Category-2 comprises 13.8 percent or 2,745 while Category-3 comprises 14
percent or 2,780 households.

Category-1 survivors are mostly middle income families with good houses but the damage of
their properties includes cars, TV sets and computers. They live in their titled lots that are at safe
distance from the river banks. Category-1 are resilient and can easily recover because their
livelihood are not totally paralyzed. Most of them have relatives that are not affected and can
provide immediate help.

Category-2 survivors are mostly lower middle class families whose main livelihoods are
employment and small business. There houses are concrete mostly concrete but not constructed
based on high standards. A good number of them are renting spaces in cheap apartment buildings
that are not constructed in accordance with standards. Some of them erected their houses along
river banks where they do not pay rents but highly exposed to risk of flooding. Their resilience

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is low because they do not have enough savings to allow them to repair their houses. Some of
them are staying in evacuation centers while others are staying at relatives or friends’ houses.
Category-2 survivors need support in repairing their houses and in some stages to defend on food
support.

Category-3 survivors are the most vulnerable. They are mostly daily wage earners and small
farmers whose houses are constructed with light materials in government lands or in the rural
areas. Those are living in the urban areas are mostly new migrants who rented small flats or
rooms with their families. Almost all of them lost everything in the disaster. Category-3
survivors mostly stayed in the evacuation centers with their whole families. They are highly
dependent on food and water rations and clothing donations.

In Iligan, many Category-3 families opted to stay in their temporary roadside shelters but go to
evacuation centers to collect food rations donated by various groups. Category-3 survivors from
the rural areas mostly opted to stay with relatives and friends in higher grounds and share with
them their limited food supply. Displaced people in Taraka are staying with relatives in nearby
towns and cities.

Status of Evacuation Centers

The Evacuation Centers (EC) visited during the assessment period were poorly organized and
managed. The local government lacks trained people to organize and manage the EC as many of
the government social workers were also badly impacted by the disaster. As a result, the EC’s are
managed by untrained volunteers and the operation of the EC’s does not have good coordination.

Available data gathered by at the EC’s are not disaggregated in terms of age and gender. This
situation prompted ECOWEB and other members of the local network to gather data and at the
barangay level. ECOWEB mobilized its network of partner community organizations to gather
needed information.

In addition to houses, schools, chapels, stores, day care centers, birthing stations and barangay
halls are also damaged at various levels. Most are buried with knee deep mud.

B. Food Security, Nutrition and Food Aid

Most of the survivors who opted to stay in evacuation centers are dependent on food assistance,
lacking funds to buy food themselves. During the days that the assessment was conducted, food
donations were in abundance but of low nutritional value. Most the food distributed were
processed food like noodles, sardines, coffee, biscuits and rice. In some EC’s some affected
people complain about the low quality of rice that are distributed. Government agencies, private
sector organizations and individuals as well as NGO’s and faith-based organizations played a
major role in providing food and non food items.

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The disaster occurring days before Christmas, prompted many people to respond quickly. Many
offices, families and groups decided to cancel their Christmas parties and allocate their budget to
buy food or non-food donations.

At the barangay level, Community volunteers, including Barangay Health Workers, have been
mobilized to prepare food at many centers however supplies of food and kitchen utensils in
bigger ECs are limited. The situation in Iligan is generally considered better compared to the
other towns and even to Cagayan de Oro. Affected populations cited that food during the first
three days was not a major concern compared to water however, they are concern that the supply
form voluntary groups will dry up.

During the assessment period, some distribution activities were chaotic due to lack of good
distribution system and the absence of good EC management.

C. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Access to good quality water was the most commonly cited priority in all evacuation centers.
Even in communities, survivors who opted to stay in their partially damaged houses are
complaining about the lack of quality water. In some rural villages that were affected by the
land-slides reported that some of their springs were gone or are now having muddy water forcing
them to fetch water to more distant sources.

In Iligan, a the major source of water in almost third of the city was badly damaged when the
storage tank was almost buried, the pumps destroyed and the power source were also cut off.
Affected barangays in the city depended their water source from rations distributed by the bureau
of fire department. In some barangays, that are most affected, private donors have provided
bottled water, but supplies are insufficient to meet needs, including in evacuation centers.

In some communities, their water systems are contaminated with muddy floodwaters but they
still use it for bathing. Some boiled their water for drinking. In most EC’s the problem is the lack
of water containers.

Considering the above situation, there is a need to evaluate the quality of the available water
supplies in the communities to ensure that contamination is avoided.

D. Health Services and Concerns

All the EC’s in the assessed area do not have dedicated health facilities. Initial reports in some
EC’s mentioned some incidence of diarrheal and respiratory diseases, indicating potential for
outbreaks. Other concerns relate to lack of access to safe water, overcrowding, poor hygiene,
sanitation, and waste disposal. In some EC’s there are indications of presence of mosquitoes.
Considering that Iligan and the other areas are susceptible to dengue fever, this situation needs to
be attended soon.

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Considering that some of the mud that came down to Mandulog river and to the Iponan River in
Cagayan de Oro are laced with Acid Mine Drainage (AMD), the risk of skin diseases may
increase especially in areas where the mud had settled.

In some EC’s volunteer groups are providing health services to the displaced people but the
problem is the lack of medicine. In the rural areas, displaced people are relying more in their
indigenous medicine practices.

V. CAPACITY TO RESPONSE

A. Local Government Units

The Philippines has an existing law that mandates local government units (LGU) to establish
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) at the provincial and municipal
level. The same law also mandates that five percent of the LGU’s budget will be allotted as
DRRM Funds. Sadly, the law is not fully implemented in Iligan and the three municipalities.
ECOWEB has been pushing for the implementation of the DRR in all of the LGU’s but the
response is quite slow. Despite of the unpreparedness, the LGU’s tried their best to respond to
the crisis and learn in the process. Some LGU’s were not able to respond promptly because their
personnel supposed to be in-charge are also badly affected.

Without a working structure, LGU’s utilize almost available structure at their disposal. For
instance, school principals are being tasked as Camp Managers for evacuation centers for the
reason that she or he is the person in-charge of managing the school. No training nor orientation
was given to them as Camp Managers. In a number of schools that are used as EC’s, IDP’s are
complaining of bad mouthing by principals who look down the IDP’s. This situation is the result
of the lack of trainings and orientations among the people being tasked to take important roles.

In the absence of a functioning office, LGU’s responses were uncoordinated and slow.
Documentation was quite slow and unsystematic. The collection of data is sometimes insensitive
to the rights of the IDP’s.

LGU’s from other un-affected areas were providing support to Iligan City. Many are mobilizing
their fire trucks to supply water. Others were delivering food and non-food items.

B. Government Agencies

Government agencies at the regional and national level are also responding to the crisis however
it lacks coordination. This is partly due to the absence of the local government’s DRRM
structure.

C. Civil Society and Civic Organizations

Civil Society Organizations (CSO) organizations in the region were caught unprepared to
respond to the scale of the disaster. The CSO’s first response was to gather information and

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coordinate with each other. CSO’s including ECOWEB activated the Mindanao Emergency
Response Network (MERN) in Iligan and Lanao area. Each act individually and jointly in
responding to the urgent needs of the evacuees like food, water and clothing. After a few days,
CSO’s started to get back its bearing and plan together for more organized operation. Each tried
to mobilize and put together resources. As a group, the CSO’s in Iligan coordinated with the
local governments and international agencies operating in the region.

Civic organizations like the Rotary, Lions Club, Kiwanis Club, Eagles Society, the Iligan Bay
Chamber of Commerce and Industries (IBCCI) also mobilized resources and distribute food,
water and non-food items directly to the IDP’s.

Corporations like Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT), Globe Telecom, and other
companies that have presence in the region responded to the crisis situation.

D. Catholic Church and Other Faith-based Organizations

The first response of the Catholic Church was to open their doors for the IDP’s. The Parish of
San Lorenzo Ruiz became one of the biggest EC accommodating more than 3,000 people. The
Catholic Diocese of Iligan mobilized the support of the un-affected parishes for food, water,
clothing and other non-food items.

Other non-Catholic faith-based organizations also responded by mobilizing their own

constituents by gathering food and non-food items. Like other CSO’s and civic organizations
they also directly deliver their goods to their identified EC’s or communities.

E. International Agencies

A number of international agencies were responding to the crisis including CAFOD, Christian
Aid (CA), MISERIOR, World Food Program (WFP), Action Against Hunger (ACF),
Community and Family Services International (CFSI), Catholic Relief Service (CRS),
International Labour Organization (ILO), International Organization for Migration (IOM),
Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Office of the Coordination for Humanitarian Action (OCHA),
Plan International, UNDP, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, Save the Children, WFP, WHO and
Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

VI. RECOMMENDATIONS

A. Framing the Response

The emergency response that CAFOD should support should be anchored on the DRR and
Sustainable Livelihoods (DRR-SL) framework. This is needed because the affected area is
within the area where our partner’s DRR-SL program is to be implemented. The emergency
response should be considered as an opportunity in consolidating the DRR-SL program or even
expand the coverage of the program and convince local government units to seriously implement

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the DRRM Law and mainstream DRR in their CDP and CLUP. The disaster situation opens a
great opportunity to raise the peoples’ awareness on DRR and Climate Change.

B. Shelter, Settlement and Non-Food Needs

With over 20,000 houses damaged or destroyed, housing repair and reconstruction is a priority,
both to allow affected families to rebuild their lives but also to relieve overcrowding at the
evacuation centers. As areas close to rivers will remain exposed to future flash floods,
consideration will be given to permanent relocation of some families, which could potentially
mean their extended stay in temporary or transitional shelters.

Considering the urgent need in the affected area, the strategy should be focused on the shelter
component of the response. The shelter component comprise three main strand – camp
management, the temporary shelter and the repair and rebuild of existing housing and
building of core shelter in the interior communities of Iligan and some municipalities in Misamis
Oriental and Lanao Sur where ECOWEB has already started their DRR mainstreaming program
in the CLUP and livelihoods programs.

1. Camp Management

The Camp management strand of the program will involved the intervention in the
improvement of the management of existing EC’s. Most of the principals and administrators of
the schools that are used as EC’s are complaining about the damage and filthiness that is
happening in their schools that’s why they wanted the IDP’s to go home or transfer to other
EC’s. One reason for this feeling is that the EC’s are poorly managed. If the IDP’s will be
organized and become empowered to managed their affairs and be able to maintain proper
hygiene and sanitation, the principals and administrators may cooperate.

2. Temporary Shelter Construction

The Temporary shelter construction strand will be focused in the establishment of new
temporary shelters in the urbanized city of Iligan with the long term view of encouraging the city
government to relocate the survivors to safer places The development of the new resettlement
sites will demand review of the current CLUP. Through this process, ECOWEB will creatively
mainstream DRR in the CLUP revision process.

A good strategy for this strand is to recover the cut logs and uprooted trees, transform them into
usable lumber for both temporary and permanent shelter. The recovery of the cut logs and
uprooted trees shall be done in coordination with the city government and other responsible
agencies. The recovery should be given priority considering that the logs could still cause
damage to coastal settlements when carried by strong waves during high tides. The logs may also
be carried by strong current to the open seas thereby losing an important resource in the future
construction of temporary and permanent shelter.

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The communities that will be supported by either of the two strand shall be organized into
“DRR-SL Communities”. The community shall be mobilized to promote DRR and lobby for the
revision of the City or municipality’s CLUP where DRR should be mainstreamed.

3. Repair and Rebuild

The repair and rebuild scheme will be focused on the provision of support for the repair and
reconstructon of houses of survivors in the hinterland areas in Iligan, the towns of Manticao and
Naawan in Misamis Oriental and the town of Taraka in Lanao del Sur. All of these
municipalities are areas of ECOWEB's DRR mainstreaming program.
 
Since the most potential benefeciaries are in the communities along the 2 main river system in
Iligan - Mandulog, Iligan - Naawan River, Manticao River and Taraka River, the Repair and
Build strand of the Shelter component will be maximized in organizing communities that would
eventually become the community actors of our River Basin approach in DRR and Climate
Change adaptation. Since the communities to be supported in the Repair and Rebuild are living
along the Rivers, the organized communities could become our ally in campaigning for the
preservation and protection of what remains to our forest here.

4. Non-Food Items

The priority need include sleeping mats, blankets, clothing, underwears, cooking, eating utensils.

C. Food Security, Nutrition and Food Aid

Since many groups are providing food items, intervention on this area should be limited to
providing nutritional food that could compliment to what is given by other agencies or groups.
CAFOD’s intervening partners should be aware on monitoring the basic standard for this aspect
so that they will know what food item they would need to provide from time to time.

For those who will be staying in the temporary shelter, their food supply should be considered
but other agencies like the WFP should be tapped.
D. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

All water sources affected by the flood that is still used by the people should be evaluated and
tested for possible dangerous bacteria to avoid water-borne diseases.

In the Camps or Temporary shelters, safe water supply should be ensured. If needed, a water
engineer should be hired to help in designing water systems and sanitation facilities. Toilets or
latrine should be properly constructed. In camps that will be supported, toilets should be repaired
or additional new ones will be constructed.

E. Health Services

At least 7 health facilities - mostly village health stations and birthing centres - were damaged by
floods. Health services are being provided by local authorities, Civil Society Organisations, civic

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organizations, volunteer doctors in most of the evacuation centers, however medical supplies are
limited, with some reporting adequate supplies for only three to five days.

A number of evacuation centers have no dedicated health facilities. Initial reports indicate that
primary health concerns as diarrheal and respiratory diseases, with the potential for outbreaks.
Other concerns relate to lack of access to safe water, overcrowding, poor hygiene, sanitation, and
waste disposal.

Special concerns are vulnerable people including children, youth, pregnant women and lactating
women. The displaced populations are also in need of psychosocial support because of the
massive destruction and unexpected number of lives lost.

Prepared by:

Joint CAFOD and ECOWEB Rapid Assessment Team

Iligan City
December 22, 2011

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