USAID-OFDA Asia Pacific Storms, Floods, and Tsunami Fact Sheet #3

Parma is rapidly diminishing in strength as a tropical storm, and the JTWC forecasts that the storm will dissipate within 24 hours after bringing heavy rainfall to northern Vietnam. In India, floods had affected approximately 2 million people in the southern Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states, killing 247 individuals, as of October 7. A U.N. Country Team in India indicated that floods had displaced approximately 1.05 million people to relief camps and damaged or destroyed more than 370,000 houses. The Indian Red Cross Society had distributed 2,500 stoves, 2,000 blankets, and 2,000 kitchen sets to the Karnataka State IRSC branch as of October 8 and planned to deploy water and sanitation units capable of producing 5,000 liters of water per hour to affected areas. In Laos, Typhoon Ketsana's impact on five southern provinces included an estimated 170,000 people affected, 9,602 households displaced, 16,279 livestock killed, and 825 houses and approximately 28,500 hectares of cropland damaged, according to an October 11 U.N. Laos Country Team report. The U.N. announced plans to conduct a needs assessment to provide the basis for a joint appeal for humanitarian aid to Laos following Typhoon Ketsana, scheduled for issuance in the next two to three weeks. The U.N. activated emergency clusters in Laos on October 9, and UNICEF had provided financial assistance for a water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) assessment in Sekong Province, pre-positioned WASH items in the capital, Vientiane, and distributed 1 million chlorine tablets and 15,000 bars of soap. In the Philippines, Tropical Storm Ketsana (Ondoy) and Typhoon Parma (Pepeng) have affected more than 7.4 million people, leaving 712 individuals dead, more than 300,000 people displaced in shelters, and more than 137,000 houses damaged or destroyed as of October 14. Tropical Storm Parma departed the Philippines on October 9 after making landfall twice in northern Luzon Island, bringing heavy rains to a larger area than meteorologists initially anticipated. The October 14 Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration forecast indicates that central and southern Luzon and the Visayas island group will likely experience rain showers and thunderstorms in the next 24 hours that could trigger flashfloods and landslides. In Samoa, the September 29 earthquake and associated tsunami in the Pacific killed 142 people, and approximately 1,000 individuals remain displaced, according to an October 11 IFRC report. A USAID/OFDA field officer in Samoa stated that the tsunami had destroyed between 50 and 100 percent of fales, traditional open-air shelters, and that the majority of the population is in need of assistance. The U.S. Department of Defense provided $100,000 through USAID/India to meet the immediate needs of affected populations in India, and USAID/OFDA provided $50,000 to support relief efforts in Laos.