Emergency Relief for Victims of Cyclone Phailin

Background: International Medical Corps’ Emergency Response Team arrived in India within 24 hours following the landfall of Cyclone Phailin, a catastrophic storm roughly the size of Hurricane Katrina, which struck India’s eastern coast on October 12, 2013. Cyclone Phailin's winds reached gusts of 125 miles per hour and storm surges of ten feet inundated the districts of Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak and Jajpur in Odisha State. Before the storm, the government pre-emptively evacuated nearly one million people across the two most affected states of Odisha (873,000) and Andhra Pradesh (100,000). While authorities put the death toll from the massive storm at 30 - far fewer than feared - more than 12 million people were affected by the cyclone. In its wake, Cyclone Phailin left wide-scale crop destruction, contaminated water supplies, the threat of disease and a devastated infrastructure.

Hundreds of thousands of people returned to their homes to find them damaged or completely destroyed, while flooding caused by the storm contaminated water supplies and caused an increase in upper respiratory infections, skin diseases, and a steep increase in cases of diarrhea. These diseases were in danger of spreading quickly at overcrowded evacuation centers that often had poor sanitation conditions.

Initial Emergency Response Activities: International Medical Corps began its emergency response in Odisha where an estimated 200,000 people were stranded due to flooding in two of the hardest-hit districts: Balasore and Mayurbhanj. Many communities in Balasore were not prepared for the continuous rain that flooded 1,725 villages, affecting 348,778 people and over 260 square miles of crops. In Mayurbhanj, the destruction was similarly devastating, with floods affecting 737 villages, 342,260 people, and over 200 square miles of crops.

In partnership with the Chief District Medical Officers and local health authorities, International Medical Corps’ Emergency Response Team deployed mobile medical units to more than 38 villages marooned by the cyclone in Balasore and Mayurbhanj and provided more than 24,000 critically-needed primary healthcare consultations. Working through local partners, International Medical Corps also distributed 900 hygiene kits to 5,000 people that included sanitary and non-food items, such as, soap, laundry detergent, mosquito nets and water containers, to thwart the spread of communicable disease.

In support of the Government of Odisha’s nutrition program targeting children and pregnant and lactating women, International Medical Corps provided information, education and communication materials to the Balasore District Welfare Office as much of their awareness materials were damaged in the floods. International Medical Corps’ Emergency Response team delivered materials on the importance of breastfeeding and vaccinations for newborns, and monitoring weight and nutrition of their children, that will be provided to the government-supported nutrition centers all over Balasore district.

International Medical Corps’ Emergency Response Team continued to provide emergency healthcare to communities recovering from the disaster throughout November, and completed its last mobile medical unit operations on November 30 in order to transition to early recovery and longer-term development programs.

Building Back Better with Local Partners: Working with its local partner, Unnayan, International Medical Corps focused its efforts on reducing future disaster risks, specifically related to the water supply and the links between hygiene and health. Using a comprehensive approach that includes rehabilitation of water sources, construction of hygiene facilities, stockpiling and dissemination of hygiene supplies, and hygiene education and promotion, International Medical Corps and Unnayan worked to ensure that families and communities are prepared to protect water sources and thwart the spread of communicable diseases before and after a disaster strikes.

• Improving Infrastructure: A wide-spread challenge in Odisha during the disaster was the submersion of hand pumps by flood waters, causing them to become contaminated with various water borne diseases. To mitigate this issue, International Medical Corps and Unnayan constructed elevated platforms in eight villages to raise the height of hand pumps, which will help prevent the submersion of the pumps during future flooding. Additionally, teams taught families how to chlorinate water from private household hand pumps to ensure their safety. In total, International Medical Corps and Unnayan raised the platforms of eight hand pumps in seven different villages in the Balasore district and chlorinated an additional 20 existing wells. To ensure that these improvements make a lasting impact, groups of men and women in each village were trained on proper water-source protection and water quality monitoring.

• Investing in the Future Through Education: International Medical Corps and Unnayan also implemented an awareness campaign focused on safe water, sanitation and hygiene practices at the individual household level, community level, and in 10 schools. In addition, International Medical Corps provided professional development and training to community healthcare workers and hygiene promoters in India. Training is focused on best practices in providing community-based education on women’s personal hygiene; safety processes for drinking, storing, and handling water; use of latrines; and the hazards associated with unhygienic behavior such as not washing hands. In conjunction with hygiene education, 900 hygiene kits were provided to students, and hygiene and first aid kits were distributed to 10 schools.  

• Improvements that Respect People and the Environment: Further, consultations with villagers that took place in November 2013 revealed the need for longer-term solutions to hygiene needs and challenges, especially for girls and women. In response to these concerns, International Medical Corps supported the construction of bathing cubicles in eight villages in Balasore District, which were connected to the previously elevated hand pump platforms, and allow girls and women to have a private area to bathe. The use of soaps and washing detergents is localized within the cubicles, with little runoff, which reduces the environmental impact of contaminants to local rivers and other natural water sources.

Conclusion: In the weeks following Cyclone Phailin, International Medical Corps transitioned from emergency response primary health care activities to restoring capacity and building self-reliance in storm-ravaged areas by developing solutions to mitigate destruction from future storms, helping local communities to become their own, best First Responders. While no area is immune to the damage that can be unleashed by a storm of Cyclone Phailin’s magnitude, families and communities can be equipped with the tools and knowledge in areas such as water, sanitation and hygiene to prepare for future emergencies and recover more quickly. Support from Global Giving helped ensure that the people of India are more resilient and have the tools they need to prepare for future disasters. This project accomplished much more than origninally intended and is fully funded and complete!