Commemorating the 10-Year Anniversary of Super Typhoon Haiyan

Today, as we mark ten years since Super Typhoon Haiyan – known locally as Super Typhoon Yolanda – the United States offers our condolences to the people of the Philippines, and renews its commitment to support their efforts to build a stronger nation and prepare for future disasters. With more than 6,000 people killed and 4.1 million displaced, Haiyan devastated the Visayas region of the central Philippines, marking one of the deadliest natural disasters in the history of the Philippines. Its social and environmental impacts continue to be felt after a decade of recovery.

To help address the urgent humanitarian needs at the time, the United States took on a leading role in coordinating the response to the storm. USAID deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to lead our country’s response, and the U.S. government provided approximately $143 million in humanitarian and development aid. Our humanitarian support in the immediate aftermath of Haiyan focused on providing critical food, health, protection, shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene, and other assistance in typhoon-affected communities through our partners. This included providing emergency food assistance to more than 3 million people through the UN World Food Program. 

In the months following Haiyan, U.S. support helped with recovery and development in typhoon-affected areas, as well as support for increasingly locally-led responses to typhoons and other disasters in one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. These investments have borne fruit during more recent disasters such as Super Typhoon Rai – known locally as Super Typhoon Odette – in December 2021, when early warning systems and prepositioning of emergency supplies helped mitigate loss of life and allowed affected communities to recover more quickly.

Ten years after Haiyan, the United States remains committed to strengthening its alliance with the government and people of the Philippines. As increasingly frequent and severe climate-related disasters threaten communities in the Philippines and throughout the world, cooperation and solidarity are critical to saving lives and fostering well-being among those at the highest risk. USAID looks forward to continuing to work with the people of the Philippines in preparing for tomorrow’s threats.