Helping Communities Recover After Cyclone Wipha

In mid-July, Cyclone Wipha barreled across the Philippines, unleashing torrential rains and causing widespread damage. Maximum sustained winds reached almost 60 miles per hour. International Medical Corps’ dedicated team responded immediately, meeting with community members, assessing the damage and working with local officials to deliver critical supplies to those in need.

“We went to the most affected areas and conducted a needs assessment,” explains Joel Sevilla, Finance Officer with International Medical Corps in the Philippines and leader of this response. “We identified a few hundred families in Rizal and Bulacan regions, and then focused our relief in Bulacan, due to the urgent, unmet needs there. Some residents fled to evacuation centres while others chose to stay in their homes until the water receded.”

Ella Andan, a resident of Barangay San Jose, walks through a flooded neighbourhood in Bulacan.

Nilo Jr. B. Castañeda, Councilor of Barangay San Jose, delivers a hygiene kit to a woman who stayed in her home despite the flooding.

The hygiene kits that our team distributed included such items as bath and laundry soap, toothbrushes, sanitary napkins, shampoo, comb, disposable razors, undergarments, towels, flashlight, plastic pail, plastic dipper, whistle and a storage box. The food kits included rice, sugar, cooking oil, coffee, canned goods and biscuits.

“Though most of the residents came to the distribution sites to receive the food and hygiene kits,” Sevilla explains, “we also went door-to-door, delivering the supplies to families who were unable to go to the sites.”

“Early this morning, a neighbour knocked on our door asking if they could borrow a cup of rice,” explains Councillor Marvin Domingo, who was at the distribution site when International Medical Corps distributed the food kits. “Their salary won’t come for another four days, and they have nothing to eat until then. These food kits will truly go a long way in helping residents get by.”

“For people whose belongings have been damaged or destroyed by a storm, these everyday household items are urgently needed,” says Erneah Krista Bufa, International Medical Corps’ Logistics Officer in the Philippines. “When you see the relief on their faces, you know you’ve made a difference.”

Erneah Krista Bufa (left), Joel Sevilla (centre) and Ingrid Benigay distribute hygiene kits to evacuees affected by the flooding, including people from remote areas whose homes were further isolated by rising waters.

International Medical Corps partnered with local officials to deliver kits in hard-to-reach areas where flooding made transportation difficult.

Joel Sevilla (left) and Ingrid Benigay (right), together with the local officials, distribute hygiene kits to people affected by the flooding. One recipient was 65-year-old Filomena Veirras, who eagerly received the kit despite her limited mobility.

International Medical Corps has responded to multiple natural disasters and disease outbreaks in the Philippines—including Typhoon Gaemi and the COVID-19 pandemic, when our team battled storms to deliver vaccines to far-flung Halian Island. Learn more about our work in the Philippines.

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