UN / AMOS

Just back from her second visit to the area in a week following the devastation wrought by Typhoon Haiyan, UN Humanitarian Coordinator Valerie Amos  said the Philippines “has one of the best disaster management systems in the world, but the sheer scale of this typhoon and the storm surge that accompanied it in some places would have tested any country.” The United Nations today increased its appeal forPhilippinestyphoon relief by nearly 16 per cent to $348 million. UNTV / RECENT

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:16
• Production Date: 22 November 2013
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS - OCHA
• Subject Topical: REFUGEES; DISPLACED PERSONS; DISASTER PREVENTION; DISASTER PREPAREDNESS; DISASTER RELIEF; HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE; ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCIES
• Geographic Subject: PHILIPPINES
• MAMS Id: U131122b

Description

STORY: UN / AMOS
TRT: 2.16
SOURCE: UNTV / OCHA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 22 NOVEMBER 2013, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

Shotlist

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

22 NOVEMBER 2013, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Amos at the dais
3. Wide shot, audience
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Amos, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“The Philippines has one of the best disaster management systems in the world, but the sheer scale of this typhoon and the storm surge that accompanied it in some places would have tested any country. The logistical challenges have been enormous with many roads blocked and airports unusable in the first few days. The impact on essential services, hospitals, banks and markets, as well as the lack of communications, fuel, transport, water and power, made it very difficult to scale up aid as quickly as was needed.”
5. Med shot, reporters
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Amos, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“The severe winds and storm surge wiped out entire towns. Millions of people have been affected, over five million of them children. More than four million made homeless with more than a million homes destroyed or damaged. The government reports today that more than 5,200 people were killed by the typhoon, and they continue to try to verify the numbers of people dead or missing as they reach communities in remote islands or in mountainous areas.”
7. Med shot, reporters
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Amos, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“In a disaster of this scale you know that the death toll is going to rise. When you have whole towns that have been flattened, when you have people who have been washed out to sea, it’s very, very hard to get an accurate figure and those early figures may well grow.”
9. Med shot, photographer
10. Zoom out, end of press conference

FILE – OCHA - 13 NOVEMBER 2013, TACLOBAN, PHILIPPINES

11. Various shots, Under-Secretary-General Valerie Amos visiting storm ravaged Tacloban

Storyline

The United Nations today (22 November) increased its appeal for Philippines typhoon relief by nearly 16 per cent to $348 million with a further rise likely as aid organizations move into top gear in the face of a disaster that killed thousands of people and affected 13.25 million overall.

Just back from her second visit to the area in a week following the devastation wrought by Typhoon Haiyan on 8 November, UN Humanitarian Coordinator Valerie Amos told a news conference at UN Headquarters in New York that the Philippines “has one of the best disaster management systems in the world, but the sheer scale of this typhoon and the storm surge that accompanied it in some places would have tested any country.”

She said the logistical challenges “have been enormous with many roads blocked and airports unusable in the first few days” and “the impact on essential services, hospitals, banks and markets, as well as the lack of communications, fuel, transport, water and power, made it very difficult to scale up aid as quickly as was needed.”

Amos noted that “the severe winds and storm surge wiped out entire towns” and millions of people have been affected.

Over 5 million of those affected are children, and more than 4 million people have been left homeless with over 1 million homes destroyed.

The Government today raised the death toll from Haiyan to more than 5,200 as it still tries to verify the total number of dead and missing, with communities on remote islands or in mountainous areas still not reached.

Amos said that “in a disaster of this scale you know that the death toll is going to rise” and “when you have whole towns that have been flattened, when you have people who have been washed out to sea, it’s very, very hard to get an accurate figure and those early figures may well grow.”

When it first launched its so-called flash appeal on 12 November, the UN sought $301, an amount that as of today is nearly 39 per cent funded at $134 million. Ms. Amos noted that the new amount of $348 is expected to rise as there are still communities yet to be reached, and a major review of the appeal is slated for the first week in December.