Florabel, 37, experienced the typhoon first hand. | © HI
"With my husband and two children, we heard that typhoon 'Ompong' (Mangkhut) was going to be very violent. The authorities advised us to leave our house and take refuge in one of the evacuation centres in the region. But because we weren't sure what to expect, we decided to stay home and barricaded our house. When the typhoon hit, we all panicked. Our children were terrified. The wind was blowing very hard and the rain was pouring into the house. The next day, we saw the damage: half of our rice and maize crops had been destroyed just a month before the harvest begins. We live off the land and don’t have much income. My husband borrowed money to buy fertiliser and seeds, so we have a loan to repay. We're scared now: how are we going to manage?"
Florabel and her family aren’t the only ones facing hardship in the province of Kalinga, where many people have lost their crops. HI's emergency experts are currently travelling to the Cordillera region with other humanitarian organisations. They are meeting with victims and identifying their needs in order to prepare for a possible emergency response.
