IOM – International Organization for Migration

Published purpose

On December 17, 2011, Tropical Storm Washi (locally known as Sendong) made landfall on Mindanao in the Philippines. It brought torrential rains to this mountainous area, not accustomed to such storms. The rains triggered flash floods leading to significant destruction of houses, infrastructure and agriculture. As of January 3, 2012, a total of 724,729 people had been affected by flash floods in Mindanao and the official death toll stands at 1,257, with 4,658 injuries and 98 people missing. Fifty-four evacuation centres have been established, serving 431,304 displaced people. With CIDA's support, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) aims to improve shelter conditions for 23,550 displaced families and improve the physical security of 47,100 disaster-affected families. Project activities include the provision of emergency shelter materials and the distribution of essential household relief items.