Evacuations, call for aid as Typhoon Usagi approaches Philippines

About 210,000 of those most affected by recent flooding need support for “critical lifesaving and protection efforts over the next three months”, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.

“Typhoons are overlapping. As soon as communities attempt to recover from the shock, the next tropical storm is already hitting them again,” UN Philippines Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Gustavo Gonzalez said.

“In this context, the response capacity gets exhausted and budgets depleted.”

A sixth storm, Tropical Storm Man-yi, currently near Guam, is expected to hit the Philippines as early as next weekend.

Gonzalez urged “resource partners to support the UN effort and fill “critical funding gaps”.

The initiative “will help us mobilise the capacities and resources of the humanitarian community to better support government institutions at national, regional and local levels”, he added.