Brethren Disaster Ministries Staff to Evaluate State of Response to Typhoon Haiyan

Damage caused by Typhoon Haiyan in Northern Iloilo, Philippines. Photo courtesy of ACT/Christian Aid.

Roy Winter, associate executive director of Brethren Disaster Ministries, will travel to the Philippines to evaluate the current state of the response to Typhoon Haiyan. The trip is part of a Brethren Disaster Ministries-facilitated response in the Philippines following the destruction and loss of life caused by Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013.

A $5,000 allocation from the Emergency Disaster Fund has been made for the trip in which Winter, accompanied by Peter Barlow, will evaluate the current state of the response in the Philippines, observe and monitor the Church World Service (CWS) response, meet with citizens to understand local needs, and meet with potential partners for a broader Brethren Disaster Ministries response.

Brethren Disaster Ministries is planning a response that will focus Brethren resources on the areas of greatest need by partnering with organizations already active in the area. “At this point, BDM does not intend to work directly in the Philippines or send volunteer groups,” staff wrote. “The intent is to identify organizations with capacity to do more recovery with BDM support. One of the groups being visited is Heifer International who sustained considerable damage to their operations from the Typhoon.”

Larger allocations from the Emergency Disaster Fund are expected in the future as these new partnerships are developed. A separate allocation of $35,000 made in November is helping to fund the CWS response.

Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines and then Vietnam causing a wide path of destruction and loss of life. “This massive storm had sustained winds reported at 195 miles per hour and gusts much higher, equivalent to a giant F4 tornado,” Brethren Disaster Ministries reported. “The loss of life is reported to be in the thousands and may grow into the tens of thousands. The hardest hit city of Taclaban is reported to be totally flattened.”

Find out more about the work of Brethren Disaster Ministries at www.brethren.org/bdm .

[gt-link lang="en" label="English" widget_look="flags_name"]