The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing an additional $1 million in humanitarian assistance to support people affected by Super Typhoon Rai in the Philippines. The typhoon—known locally as Typhoon Odette—caused heavy rains, landslides, and widespread flooding, affecting more than 9.5 million people since making landfall in mid-December. This new funding brings total USAID humanitarian assistance for typhoon-affected people in the Philippines to more than $21 million.
With this additional funding, USAID partner, the UN World Food Program (WFP), will further bolster logistics efforts across typhoon-affected areas. Specifically, the assistance will help WFP transport essential Government of the Philippines-provided food assistance and relief items for tens of thousands of people in the most affected areas. While electricity has been restored in the majority of the 360 cities and municipalities that lost power due to the super typhoon, some bridges and roads in the most affected areas remain impassable. As of late January, WFP had provided nearly 300 trucks to transport nearly 3,900 metric tons of household food rations, as well as emergency relief supplies such as hygiene kits, kitchen sets, and shelter kits to people in need.
This new funding is in addition to more than $20 million in humanitarian assistance allocated late last year, as well as long standing USAID-funded programs in the Philippines that help communities prepare for and be more resilient to natural disasters. USAID disaster experts in the Philippines and in the region continue to coordinate response efforts with the Government of the Philippines and humanitarian partners.
For the latest updates on USAID’s humanitarian assistance in the Philippines, visit here.