Six months ago today, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strong storms ever recorded, slammed into the Philippines. 14.1 million people were affected, another 4.1 million displaced, and the losses and damages reached an estimated $14 billion dollars. Over 6,200 people died, and more than 1,000 are still missing.
The world watched as Haiyan tallied horrifying statistics on the extent of devastation and destruction in one of the world’s most vulnerable nations to natural disasters. In fact, when the typhoon struck, the Philippines was still reeling from the effects of Typhoon Bopha at the end of 2012 and a 7.1 magnitude earthquake that rocked the island of Bohol just a month before Haiyan.
Even now, as we take stock of the incredible work that has been done in a very short time, typhoon season is about to start for a nation that suffers about 20 such violent storms each year. If a major typhoon were to hit the Haiyan-affected areas now, we could be looking at a potentially much worse humanitarian situation.
About the author
Carin van der Hor
Carin van der Hor is Plan International's country director in the Philippines since November 2011. Previously, she was country representative at the World Population Foundation in Hanoi, general manager of Rotterdam University's PAL-Nepal Project in Kathmandu, and held senior management positions in the governmental and health sectors in her native Netherlands.
