From emergency shelters to resettlement areas: resiliency of the typhoon Yolanda and Ruby survivors in the four municipalities in Eastern Visayas Region [Philippines]

Of the many typhoons that hit Eastern Visayas yearly, there were two typhoons that the residents will not forget. The first is the super typhoon Haiyan aka Yolanda, on Nov. 8, 2013 and typhoon Ruby in December 2014. Other than food and clothing, the provision of temporary shelters for those that were rendered homeless due to these typhoons is a priority. The reported partially and total damage houses in Typhoon Yolanda was 1,140,322 while typhoon Ruby has registered 292,067 damage houses. Seven hundred forty two Eastern Visayas youth aged 12 to 21 years who lost their homes, properties and livelihood due to these devastating typhoons were interviewed on the experienced they had in the shelters. The housing of the displaced population is by stages. Stage 1 are the emergency shelters (e-shelters) where residents occupy concrete government buildings such as astrodome , school buildings or gymnasiums. These are open and wide spaces equipped with supply of water and toilet facilities. Families who still cannot return to their place of residence are given temporary houses made of light materials, nipa huts, hardiflex, canvas, etc. are called transitional shelters. This serve as waiting areas for families who applied in the donated permanent houses in the government designated resettlement site. The length of stay and the number of moves they have made in each type of shelters were associated with incidence of teenage pregnancy. It was observed that make shift shelters increase the probability of getting pregnant. At the time of the survey, 39% are residing in donated permanent housing while half (51%) have move back to their own residences. Only 9% remained in the transitional shelters. Moving only once staying for less than 3 months in emergency shelters and youth who moved back to their places of origin are likely to be associated with pregnancy. It was however found that the differences of those who got pregnant and those who did not was in the age at first initiation to premarital experiences more than the length of stay in shelters and the number of moves they made while staying in the different shelters. The youth described their experiences in the shelters as dirty, noisy, and dangerous. In the emergency shelter, water and food were in short supply. Except for water use for domestic purpose and toilets, all utilities for cooking, water for drinking are personally acquired by the families of the youth. Resiliency of the families is needed to survive in the shelters.