IsraAID teams respond to Typhoon Mangkhut in September 2018. Photo: IsraAID.

JNS.org – The Filipino branch of the Israeli humanitarian aid organization IsraAID plans to respond to the area after it was hit late last month by Tropical Depression Usman, which has killed at least 122 people, with dozens still reported missing.

The emergency-response team, consisting of Israeli and Filipino staff members, and volunteers from IsraAID Philippines, will “conduct a rapid-needs assessment, distribute urgently needed relief items, improve access to safe water and offer psychological support to the affected population,” according to a press release from the organization. “The team is on its way to the Sagñay municipality in the Camarines Sur province, one of the worst-hit areas.”

“Amid mass evacuations, a rising death toll and severe infrastructural damage following the tropical depression, communities in Camarines Sur are in need of support,” said IsraAID co-CEOs Yotam Polizer and Navonel Glick. “This is the second storm that IsraAID Philippines has responded to in the past year, in addition to half a decade of experience working in the country.”

The storm came not long after Typhoon Mangkhut, which killed nearly 100 people and resulted in IsraAID Philippines administering psychological support and other assistance.