At a Glance

2.6M PEOPLE IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE

535K PEOPLE TARGETED FOR ASSISTANCE

$42.4M FUNDING REQUESTED

Overview of the crisis
The Philippines is facing an exceptionally challenging tropical cyclone (TC) season, with successive cyclones reaching unprecedented locations and scales. Local authorities, who were impacted themselves, are overwhelmed as they simultaneously respond to the crisis and coordinate rescue efforts for affected families.

Since the last week of October and in barely five weeks, six consecutive cyclones have affected over 13 million people across the country. At the peak of displacement, over 2.9 million individuals were reported to have left their homes for temporary refuge in evacuation centres, informal settlements and hosted by relatives and friends. Cumulatively, number of casualties are 174 reported deaths, 148 injured and 25 missing. The minimal casualties are attributed to pre-emptive evacuations and preparedness work led by the Government of the Philippines (GoP).

On 22 October, TC Trami, local name Kristine, brought heavy rains across the Philippines, resulting in widespread flooding and landslides. In the early hours of 24 October, TC Kristine made landfall in Divilacan, Isabela, as a Severe Tropical Storm (STS) with maximum sustained winds of 95 km/h. Severe Tropical Storm Kristine brought torrential rains that caused widespread flooding and landslides in several parts of the country, particularly in Region 2, 4A and 5.

As STS Kristine exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on 25 October, TC Kong-rey, local name Leon, entered PAR on 27 October. Tropical cyclone Leon intensified into a super typhoon and its track came close to the Batanes Group of Islands in Luzon on 30 October. Super Typhoon (STY) Leon impacted several provinces that had already been affected by STS Krisitine, particularly Batanes, which is still recovering from the effects of TC Krathon, local name Julian, in September 2024.

On 7 November, Typhoon (TY) Yinxing, local name Marce, made landfall in extreme northern Luzon as the third cyclone within three weeks, prompting Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal #4, indicating ‘very intense typhoon’ conditions across the northern portion of mainland Cagayan including the Babuyan Islands, the northeastern portion of Apayao and the northern portion of Ilocos Norte. While TY Marce was battering the northern part of the Philippines as another tropical cyclone, TC Toraji, local name Nika, was forming and impacting the eastern seaboard. It then made a landfall in Dilasag, Aurora on 11 November. Immediately after, on 14 November, TC Usagi, local name Ofel, made a landfall in Cagayan as a super typhoon. By 16 November, another super typhoon, Man-yi, local name Pepito, made a landfall in Panganiban, Catanduanes. It made a second landfall in Dipaculao, Aurora on 17 November. In the days leading up to landfall of STY Pepito, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and local government units (LGUs) proactively urged coastal and vulnerable populations to evacuate to safer areas. More than 1.5 million people were pre-emptively evacuated.

This the first time that the Philippines experienced multiple typhoons simultaneously active in the Western Pacific basin since records began in 1951. Climate change has inevitably contributed to these more intensified and frequent typhoons. The “La Niña-like” conditions in the Pacific Ocean also played a significant role in the behaviour of the recent cyclones. The La Niña alert remains in effect until the 1st quarter of 2025.