Philippines - An IOM worker on the ground in Compostela Valley, the epicentre of the destruction wrought by typhoon Pablo/Bopha in the southern Philippines, has given a harrowing account of the humanitarian situation.
 
Maria Ena Olmedoa, programme coordinator on Mindanao is part of the joint assessment being carried out alongside the Philippines government. Speaking after her return from yesterday's mission to Compostela Valley yesterday she recounted what she saw:
 
"The dead bodies are just placed by the road side without any cover. There seems to be no cadaver bags available. This may also pose as a health problem if left as is. Around four barangays (districts) out of the 16 are affected by the typhoon. But the areas are heavily affected by mudslide.
"In Compostela Municipality, out of the total population (estimated 80,000), 95 per cent of the population  is affected. All 16 barangays are affected. There are eight evacuation centers in Poblacion alone. There are 20 recorded casualties and four are missing. In New Bataan, as of last counting, 43 are dead."
Olmedoa added: "People were glad to see us as we were the first teams to arrive. The houses were completely damaged everywhere. They just fell apart like Lego blocks. The local authorities are doing their best but they have also lost their houses, or are injured or have family members injured."
 
Conrad Navidad, emergency coordinator IOM Philippines agreed: "The picture is grim.  This is just a microcosm of the general humanitarian situation.
"The immediate needs are food, water, emergency shelter materials, non-food items, medicines, psychosocial support and of course, camp management.  We have a solid track record and manpower capacity to respond to such needs.  The only challenge at the moment is lack of funds."
 
The humanitarian situation on the ground is complicated by the remoteness of the affected area, the fact that it is not normally affected by cyclones, as well as the wide-scale impact and sheer ferocity of Pablo/Bopha. Another factor in the wide-ranging impact is that this is the second deadly cyclone in a 12 month period for an an area not normally exposed to cyclones, a sign, its assumed, of the extreme and unexpected weather patterns being caused by climate change.
IOM staff report desperate overcrowding in temporary shelters, a lack of a registration system, absence of latrines, unsafe water, and no means of transporting clean water, even if it becomes available. Conditions, in short, are ripe for outbreaks of diarrheal diseases. Digestive disorders, fevers, coughs and colds are already affected displaced children. Wounded people need tetanus vaccines as well as better medical care.
"The bridge going into Davao is damaged so we had to take a three hour road detour. Medical supplies have just arrived by navy ship but there is still a great need for more medicines, particularly vaccines, for food, water and shelter materials," said Olmedoa.
 
"Apart from material needs one of the biggest challenges in situations like this is access to proper information", said Leonard Doyle, IOM's head of Online Communication, speaking from Manila today. "No one knows where to get help, or how many people need it. We are assisting the government in getting proper channels of communication established, together with providing the material and moral support everyone needs."
 
For more information, contact
 
Conrado Navidad
IOM Philippines
Email: cnavidad@iom.int