Philippines – HAGUPIT (Ruby) ECHO CRISIS FLASH N° 8

Period covered: 1. Map Friday 05/12/14

Time of validity: Date: 05/12/14 Time: 18:00 UTC

ECHO Field Office: Manila – The

(Source: JRC) 2. Situation

Tropical Cyclone HAGUPIT (local name Ruby) continued moving over the western Pacific Ocean and started weakening slightly on 4 December, remaining an intense . ECHO Emergency Contact On 5 December at 0.00 UTC, it had a maximum sustained wind speed of 232 Tel.: +32 2 29 21112 km/h and its centre was located over the Philippine Sea off the eastern coast Fax: +32 2 29 86651 of central Philippines, approximately 500 km east of Borongan city, Eastern [email protected] , and 1 000 km from Manila.

In the next 24 h, it is forecast to move north-west, over the Philippine Sea

ECHO Crisis Flash n° 1 – Philippines – (Ruby) Page 1 of 2 towards central Philippines weakening slightly, remaining an intense Typhoon.

It is forecast to reach the coast of northern Samar Island (Eastern ) on 6 December, as an intense Typhoon, continue moving north-west towards the area south of the capital Manila. Very strong winds, heavy rains and could affect central and northern Philippines, starting on 6 December, including also parts of the areas that were severely hit in 2013 during the passage of .

As of early morning of 5 December, a Public Storm Warning Signal 2 is in effect in Eastern Visayas and Public Storm Warning Signal 1 in Central and Western Visayas, Bicol and Southern Tagalog.

According to latest estimation made by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration the typhoon is predicted to make landfall between and Northern Samar on Saturday evening and it is estimated that around 4.5 million people will be affected.

3. Assistance

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and its member agencies have been alerted and respective preparedness measures are being carried out including prepositioning of relief items.

As of 5 December, the Philippine Government has not requested international humanitarian assistance. The government has not activated the humanitarian clusters.

The government has started the pre-emptive evacuation in Eastern Samar and . The Mayor of Tacloban City announced that 95 % of the vulnerable residents were evacuated. The army and police forces positioned within the city.

The Department of Education suspended school classes in most areas of Eastern Visayas.

The Department of Health (DOH) prepositioned PHP 244 million worth of medicines and supplies in the regions along the typhoon path. Red alert starts on 6 December in hospitals in target areas, 100% of personnel are on duty.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHILVOCS) warned against possible lava flows from Mt Mayon and Mt Bulusan in . At least five towns in Legazpi are in danger. Provincial buses suspended trips going to Visayas and as of 5 December.

Metro Manila may also be affected given the wide diameter of 700 km of the tropical cyclone. The local city mayors warned that 70 barangays may be flooded and evacuation is highly possible.

The humanitarian actors in the country held a coordination meeting on 5 December and are actively preparing for quick delivery of emergency assistance, should it be needed.

Some of DG ECHO partners have already pre-positioned relief items and are prepared to deploy teams for immediate assessment and initial relief assistance.

4. Other information

The DG ECHO team in Manila of two experts is continuously monitoring the situation and in contact with ECHO partners (UN, RC and NGOs) and EU Delegation to the Philippines. DG ECHO response capacity will be reinforced by an additional two experts from the Regional Support Office in Bangkok on Saturday morning. The team is ready to deploy to the affected areas as soon as this is possible. If needed, DG ECHO will deploy additional staff members from its Regional Support Office in Bangkok.

ECHO Crisis Flash n° 1 – Philippines – Typhoon Hagupit (Ruby) Page 2 of 2