Typhoon Hagupit turned out to be far less damaging to the Philippines than last year’s Typhoon Haiyan. The death toll was comparatively low, although some remote villages had yet to be reached. CCTV America’s Barnaby Lo reported this story from Manila, investigating what the country had done differently to prevent major loss from the storm.
The largest evacuations ever seen in peacetime was how one United Nations official described it. Over a million Filipinos left their homes for safety last weekend, as then super-Typhoon Hagupit threatened to hit the very same region that suffered most of Typhoon Haiyan’s fury a year before.
Haiyan was the strongest storm on record to make landfall. It killed more than 6,300, with many more still missing, as it triggered tsunami-like storm surges that washed away entire towns and villages. Even as Hagupit continued to lose strength as it swept across the Philippines, those in the typhoon’s path didn’t take chances. An entire stretch along Manila Bay is usually filled with small shops, tourists, bystanders, and the homeless. But since Hagupit was bringing with it the threat of a storm surge, the local government made sure the area was empty hours before the storm passed.
“It was so critical that people were moved from those vulnerable, hazard-prone areas to safe evacuation centers,” Alison Kent, Oxfam humanitarian policy advisor, said. “And that’s just a massive amount of organization from the government, from non-profit partners and from the communities themselves so it’s been a very positive experience to see that preparedness happen.”
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