A Mississauga, Ontario couple, Harry and Annie Bergshoeff, are flying out of Toronto airport today. Their destination is the typhoon-ravaged country of the Philippines, where they will coordinate details of World Renew’s disaster response efforts.
“As winter begins, some residents of High River, Alberta, are still being housed in temporary living quarters,” says Henry Visscher, a regional manager for World Renew Disaster Response Services (DRS). “They haven’t been able to return to their homes because they are waiting for determinations from the government’s Disaster Relief Program (DRP) and their insurance so that they can start to rebuild.”
Today is the anniversary of an observation most people have
The airport is very damaged. It is amazing that we
November 21, 2013Early this month, World Renew Disaster Response Services
Today I arrived on the island of Panay. The two provinces on this island that were most affected by Typhoon Haiyan are Capiz and Iloilo. Fortunately, those who have been less affected are stepping up to the challenge and are assisting with the relief response.
“Most people had just a few minutes to grab photographs and other remembrances before they had to evacuate,” says Dave Gabrielse, a Rapid Response volunteer in Colorado. “Their basements were filled with water and often the second level of their home was inundated as well. Many lost all of their keepsakes and memories from the past.” World Renew Disaster Response Services (DRS) deployed Gabrielse and five other Rapid Response volunteers from Michigan and Ontario to Longmont, Colorado, after 17 inches of rain overwhelmed area cities and towns there during the third week of September.
On Monday, November 18th, I had the opportunity to attend an Early Recovery Cluster meeting of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. These cluster meetings are numerous and time consuming but helpful to aid agencies because they allow us to hear the expectations that have been set by the national government and learn how other organizations are responding. In this way various agencies can work together, coordinate our efforts, and ensure that we don’t overlap.
World Renew is responding in Midwest communities where a fast-moving cold front spawned more than 75 tornadoes yesterday. Early Response Coordinators are being deployed as the agency’s Disaster Response Services (DRS) staff and regional managers meet today with state and federal agency representatives to coordinate a response.
Hello from Manila. After 21 hours of travel, I arrived
