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Southeast Asia Crisis '09
Read the 6-months on report from Vietnam on the devastating storms of 2009.
 The Asia-Pacific region has been rocked by a number of disasters in a very short period of time. Families have fled their homes and lost all their possessions. Children are injured, frightened and vulnerable. We’re responding in all locations to help those in need.
Save the Children Canada, as a member of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION, is collecting donations for the region. Learn more at http://www.humanitariancoalition.ca/.
- Sumatra, Indonesia has experienced 2 massive earthquakes causing destruction and disruption to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people
- The Philippines has seen widespread devastation caused by Typhoon Ketsana and Typhoon Parma
- In Vietnam, just five weeks after the country was battered by Typhoon Ketsana, this week Vietnam is being hit by Mirinae, a new tropical cyclone.
- The islands of Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga and Kiribati were hit by a tsumani that flattened entire areas
Save the Children is responding around the region to meet the needs of children and families hit hard by the disasters. Please help us respond to the emergency.
Donate Online
Call to donate at 1-800-668-5036
Sumatra, Indonesia
Save the Children is rapidly moving to assess the needs of children and assist them through the current crisis in Padang, Sumatra.
A 6.8 magnitude quake hit western Sumatra on the morning of Thursday October 1st, 2009, Sumatra time, just hours after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Padang, killing more than 1,115 people, collapsing homes and buildings, and affecting more than 1 million children and families. At least half of those affected are children.
"The second major earthquake struck when children were in school, and we fear that many are injured or separated from their families," said Mark Fritzler, Save the Children’s country director in Indonesia. "Save the Children will work to protect vulnerable and separated children as well as provide humanitarian assistance to help families through the immediate and critical hours of this crisis."
The earthquake has caused widespread structural damage. The quake severely damaged 135,299 homes, left thousands of buildings unsafe, cut lines of communications electricity, and damaged bridges and schools in and around Padang, home to 900,000 people. More than 250,000 people have been rendered homeless.
In response to the earthquake Save the Children is sending 3,364 household kits, 10,076 hygiene kits, and 3,300 family tarps (including plastic mats) and 608 shelter kits to the affected area to help families who are sleeping in the open and have lost their homes.
"The population of Padang has been dramatically affected with what we fear will be a large-scale displacement of people. Every day a family is without shelter threatens the health and well-being of children, especially the youngest and smallest," said David Morley, President and CEO of Save the Children Canada in Toronto. "We are moving rapidly to ensure than infants and children — as well as their parents — get the help they need as quickly as possible."
Save the Children is currently providing relief to survivors of a magnitude-7 earthquake that struck Western Java, Indonesia, last month. The agency’s education, health and livelihoods programs for children and families living in areas affected by the 2004 tsunami continue.
Save the Children has been working in Indonesia for more than three decades.
Typhoon in the Philippines
With families still trying to rally from the aftermath of Tropical Storm Ketsana and Typhoon Parma, Save the Children has provided a quick and effective response, providing assistance to as many vulnerable children as possible.
On Sept 26, Tropical Storm Ketsana devastated central and northern parts of Luzon (including Metro Manila and the surrounding provinces), bringing heavy rainfall that swamped the capital with more rain than seen in four decades. The country was hit exactly one week later for a second time by Typhoon Parma, which left the Philippines on October 9. The typhoon reversed track twice over northern Luzon, bringing heavy rains for over a week to a far larger area than initially anticipated, triggering landslides and flooding in the provinces north of Metro Manila.
The storms affected approximately 1.8 million families and killed about 900 people. The storms also damaged hundreds of thousands of homes, caused many to seek shelter and caused damages worth an estimated USD 650 million.
In just one month, four strong typhoons (Ketsana, Parma, Lupit, Mirinae) hit the Philippines consecutively, devastating communities in Northern and Central Luzon. Millions of people were affected by the storms, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to take shelter in crowded evacuation centers. Over 900 people were killed and hundreds more were injured. Hundreds of thousands of homes were destroyed or damaged and the economic cost of the damages from the storms is estimated at approximately USD 650 million. Three out of five people affected by the storms are children.
Save the Children’s response addresses the urgent need to protect children from any further harm and to ensure their wellbeing, which includes providing them with food, clean water, health care, access to education and safe places to play.
To date, Save the Children has reached thousands of children and families. Since the first storm hit on September 26, Save the Children has provided the following support:
- A total of 12,700 families (approximately 63,830 people, including over 38,000 children) have received packs of essential non-food items.
- Over 4,000 families have received food assistance, potable water and jerry cans
- Mobile medical teams have been deployed to help families in evacuation centers and affected communities, to date over 1,375 medical consultations have taken place, including pre-natal care. Breastfeeding support sessions have reached over 500 mothers and infants.
- 10 child-friendly spaces have been established and are attended daily by about 900 children staying in evacuation centers.
- Over 6,000 back-to-school kits have been distributed Save the Children also initiated livelihood programs so that families may begin to earn the money needed to rebuild their lives.
Save the Children has been working in the Philippines for 28 years.
Typhoon Ketsana and Tropical Cyclone Mirinae in Vietnam
Five weeks after Typhoon Ketsana displaced more than 500,000 people across central Vietnam, Vietnam was hit once again by Tropical Cyclone Mirinae. The storm struck November 3rd, affecting seven provinces in the south-central region of Vietnam including Quang Ngai which was also badly affected by Ketsana. The second storm has damaged an estimated 40,000 homes, killed at least 98 people and has forced 24,000 people to flee their homes for government run shelters. Thousands of the poorest people have lost their crops and fishing equipment, devastating their ways of earning a living.
Save the Children has provided immediate recovery relief items and food to almost 100,000 people, of which at least half are children, in the two provinces most affected by Typhoon Ketsana - Quang Tri and Hue.
We have successfully provided over 15,000 household kits, 15,000 hygiene kits and 600 tons and also been extremely active in promoting proper hygiene and infant feeding education to lactating/pregnant women.
The storm comes at time when hundreds of thousands of people are still recovering from the devastating effects of Ketsana.
Ketsana, which made landfall September 29th, brought winds of up to 150 km/h and heavy rain causing serious flooding and damage. Due to the typhoon:
- An estimated 163 people are dead;
- Hundreds of thousands of homes have been flooded and thousands completely destroyed;
- Approximately 150,000 people are displaced;
- Around 500,000 people are in need of humanitarian assistance
Save the Children swiftly put in place a comprehensive plan to assist those impacted by Ketsana. Save the children plans on reaching 100,000 people while providing 15,000 people with household and hygiene kits, and distributing 600 tons of rice in the worst hit areas of Vietnam.
Save the Children has began providing those impacted by Mirinae and Ketsana with cash grants in an effort to allow people to allow people to regain their livelihoods Save the Children will look to improve access to health care, education, clean water and will promote proper hygiene in all program regions.
You can make a difference to the lives of children affected by these disasters. Please help us today!
Save the Children is responding around the region to meet the needs of children and families hit hard by the disasters. Please help us respond to the emergency.
Donate Online
Call to donate at 1-800-668-5036
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