Multi-Cluster/Sector Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA): Philippines Typhoon Haiyan

Typhoon Haiyan is the most powerful storm ever recorded. It made landfall in the morning of 8 November in Guiuan, Eastern Samar province, causing extensive damage to life, housing, livelihoods and infrastructure across nine of the Philippine’s poorest provinces. Philippine authorities estimate that 13 million people have been affected, 3.4 million displaced, and at least 5,209 people are confirmed dead. To better understand the impact of Typhoon Haiyan on affected population, more than 40 agencies conducted a multi-cluster initial rapid assessment (MIRA) providing a broad and coherent overview of the humanitarian needs of the extensive affected areas. It is using a purposive methodology and is designed to be administered at the barangay level utilising key informants. A total of 283 barangays were assessed from 92 municipalities in 9 provinces lying within the direct path of the typhoon.  

The (MIRA) confirmed that the impacts of Typhoon Haiyan follow a relatively clear geographical pattern. It has devastated essential services in the hardest hit areas, leaving communities without sufficient access to health, water and sanitation, and education. The majority of the displaced population is highly dependent on unsafe water sources. Education has also been severely impacted by the typhoon with 90 percent of schools damaged in the most highly affected areas. Rehabilitation of community services, including restoration of local government units, is a priority. Special attention must also be paid to the most vulnerable segments of the population, such as unaccompanied teenagers and children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and single-headed households with children, as they often resort to negative coping strategies, such as sale of remaining assets, reduced food consumption, survival sex, family separation, or begging. Remote/isolated/inaccessible areas and those who have not yet received any food distributions are extremely vulnerable and must be served immediately.