Phailin Emergency Update - July 2014

BAY OF BENGAL
AN OXFAM OVERVIEW: JULY 2014
Cyclonic Phailin is the second-strongest tropical cyclone ever to hit India, the first
being the 1999 Odisha cyclone. One of the worst cyclones to hit the east coast of
Odisha in 10 years on October 12, 2013, Phailin affected over eight million people.
ODISHA
EMERGENCY RESPONSE UPDATE
Washed away by floods, a woman is standing next to her destroyed house three days
after the Cyclone Phailin hit her village in Puri District.
PHAILIN AND THE AFTERMATH: Tropical Cyclone Phailin (level 4) hit the heavily populated Odisha
coast on the night of October 12, 2013, with wind speeds of 200-210 km per hour. There was a
storm surge of up to three metres in height. The worst hit districts were Ganjam, Puri, Khorda,
Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Balasore, Bhadrak, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur. Heavy rains brought
by the Cyclone led to flooding, causing a second crisis in these areas; the worst affected being
Balasore and Kendrapara districts. Advance warning by government was made between 9-11th
October and mass evacuation (India’s biggest evacuation in 23 years) of almost 900,000 people in
Odisha and Andhra Pradesh was achieved. This along with good coordination between government,
NGOs and civil societies saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
According to government, the total death toll from the cyclone or flooding in Odisha was 36. As
much as 90% of the population had returned back to their villages within six days of the cyclone
landing. The official number of affected people was given as 10 million.
The number of people estimated to need humanitarian assistance, as found by the NGO
community’s assessments was smaller than the government figure of 10 million people. It was
estimated that over 1.2 million people would need immediate assistance.
Following rapid assessment and inter-agency coordination, Oxfam proposed to provide immediate
humanitarian assistance to Phailin affected people in Puri, Ganjam and Balasore districts through
provision of food aid, water and sanitation facilities, public health services, and temporary shelter
materials.
Get the latest on Oxfam’s response at www.oxfamindia.org

Under Cash for Work programme, Oxfam assisted the most
vulnerable families in Puri to create early recovery
livelihood opportunities for them.
SINCE OUR RESPONSE BEGAN: Oxfam Humanitarian
Response has reached to more than 92,000 affected
people on the ground and the rehabilitation and
recovery work continues.
WHEN THE RESPONSE STARTED:
Oxfam India and partners started the response on October 14,
2013 implementing Emergency Food Security and Vulnerable
Livelihood (EFSVL), Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and
emergency shelter in three affected districts of Puri, Ganjam and
Balasore targeting more than 92,000 people. An initial dry food
distribution was also done in Jagram district. In the first week,
32,434 displaced persons were served with cooked food.
Work continues in Puri and Ganjam district in a total of 27
villages with a population of 43,000 focusing mostly on recovery
interventions.
WHERE WE ARE WORKING: PURI
During the initial phase of the response under Emergency Food
Security programme, Oxfam focused on providing food to the
affected population. Oxfam and partners targeted people with
the least resources to cope with the situation after the disaster.
Oxfam distributed ration and supplementary food for first 30
days to meet immediate basic food requirements of the affected
population. Oxfam provided food to more than 17,000 people in
Puri for 30 days and 26,750 people received emergency shelter.
Oxfam also distributed hygiene kits to around 27,000 people. The
response took in consideration the gender and disability, and
priority was given to these marginalised groups.
The early recovery intervention started in mid November 2013,
addressing early recovery livelihood, WASH and transitional
shelter in the worst affected communities
CREATING LIVELIHOOD
Under Emergency Food Security and Liveli-hood
(EFSVL), the assistance was provided
through Un- Conditional Cash Transfer and
Cash for Work programmes to most vulnerable
families. In Puri, more than 650 families were
covered under these programmes. Addition-ally,
providing seed support to over 350
farmer families and fishing equipment (drying
and storage) assistance to 20 fisherwomen
groups in the district.
PROVIDING SHELTER
Besides building 17 transitional shelters in
Puri, Oxfam trained local masons using
cyclone and flood resilient construction
techniques in shelter repair and construction.
Oxfam also helped more than 400 households
to repair their shelter incorporating
appropriate disaster resilient and inclusive
features suitable to local conditions. More
than 4400 solar lights were distributed as
part of emergency shelter kits, which also
included tarpaulin and ground sheet, and
blankets.
PURI
BAY OF BENGAL

WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE
(WASH): KEY ACHIEVEMENT
27 new hand pumps installed
47 water sources rehabilitated
63 water sources chlorinated
54 water sources tested for arsenic,
fluoride and bacteria
48 latrines constructed
Seven bathing units built
20 Public Health Engineering (PHE) tool kits
distributed
24 Public Health Promotion (PHP) events
conducted in schools
Eight PHP mass campaign rallies
Over 2900 people covered under door to
door PHP campaign.
One multi-purpose pond built in Puri
48 mass campaign (PHP) mothers group
meetings conducted
Water filters helped to avoid any major disease outbreak in relief camps.
WASH support ensured access to safe water and good hygiene practise.
For Chandini Nayak, solar light that her family received from Oxfam was a big help. She could
continue her studies despite the hard conditions.
IMPACT IN OUR LITTLE WAY
Chandini Nayak is in 5th grade and wants to become a police-woman
when she grows up. She is aware that it will be a long
journey but what makes her happy is that she saved her books
when her family had to evacuate during Cyclone Phailin.
Coming home was as difficult as leaving. Chandini’s home was
washed away. Oxfam arrived just days after the cyclone hit her
village, supplying emergency food rations and essential non-food
items like blankets, tarpaulins, groundsheets buckets,
water purification tablets and solar lamps. For little Chandini,
solar lamp made a big difference.
“Solar lamp was really helpful, especially when there was no
electricity and I could still study.”

!
!
!
19 new hand pumps installed
35 water sources
rehabilitated
78 water sources chlorinated
61 water sources tested for
arsenic, fluoride and bacteria
50 latrines constructed
11 bathing units built
13 Public Health Engineering (PHE)
tool kits distributed
25 Public Health Promotion (PHP)
events conducted in schools
12 PHP mass campaigns
Over 2200 people covered under door
to door PHP campaign.
One multi-purpose pond built in
Ganjam
43 mass campaign (PHP) mothers
group meetings conducted
GANJAM
BAY OF BENGAL
GANJAM
BAY OF BENGAL
WHERE WE ARE WORKING: GANJAM
In the beginning of the response, Oxfam provided emergency
food to the affected population in Ganjam. Under the Emergency
Food Security programme, Oxfam and partners distributed ration
and supplementary food to more than 6500 people for 30 days
and 21,500 people received emergency shelter. Oxfam
distributed hygiene kits to more than 21,000 people and over
3500 solar lamps. To ensure gender equality, women’s active
participation was ensured at each level of the distribution
process. Women were encouraged to actively participate in
public health and WASH response plans.
CREATING LIVELIHOOD
The early recovering intervention, which started a month after
the cyclone, was aimed at creating income sources for the
affected population. Under EFSVL programme the assistance
was provided in form of Un- Conditional Cash Transfer and Cash
for Work programmes to most vulnerable families. In Ganjam
district, more than 650 families were covered under Cash for
Work and Un-Conditional cash Transfer Programme. More than
250 farmers received farming support which included paddy and
vegetable seeds, and were also trained in resilient farming
techniques. Ten fishing groups received fishing equipment
support, which included drying and storage facility from Oxfam.
WASH: KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
In Ganjam, more than 250 families received farming support which
included paddy and vegetable seeds besides training in resilient
farming techniques.

Ranjani, who worked under the Cash for Work programme in Ganjam district, was involved in constructing a channel that is being used for irrigation in her village.
IMPACT
The winds on October 12, 2013 were different from those on any
other day. Phailin was knocking on her door. What was to follow
would be one of the worst cyclones Ranjani had seen in her
lifetime.
“It was around 9am in the morning when the wind picked up
speed. It suddenly became cold. Wind and rain seemed to come
from all directions. The (wind) force was so much that we
couldn’t cross the main road,” Ranjani recalls.
She and her family took shelter in a nearby school, which was
overcrowded. Cramped with 400 people, the water level was
PROVIDING SHELTER
During the initial phase of response, more
than 3500 emergency shelter kits were
distributed to affected population in Ganjam
district. The emergency kits included
ground and tarpaulin sheets, blankets and
solar lamps. Under the early recovery
intervention, local masons and carpenters
were trained to use cyclone and flood
resilient construction techniques in shelter
repair and construction.

A woman on her way to home carrying the food items distributed by
Oxfam during the initial days of response in Balasore district.
rising to knee-level. The rain continued, and water channelled
down the nearby hills into the village blocking all the roads. It
wasn’t until around 4am next morning that the winds began to
die down and the floodwaters began to recede.
Ranjani and her family stayed at the school for four days. As the
building was completely cut-off the people staying in it were
venturing into open spaces to defecate, thus affecting personal
hygiene and that of the whole group. The hand-pump at the
school had escaped contamination and the meagre supplies
they had would be shared equally, as with any medicines that
people had or needed.
On their return, the villagers were faced with a scene of devasta-tion;
collapsed homes inundated by silt, water and debris.
“We were mentally and physically exhausted with shock; as a
result many of us fell sick with fever”
Oxfam and its local partner supplied food, tarpaulins and
groundsheets, blankets, soaps, buckets and tablets to purify
water. The harsh weather persisted in the area; the rain contin-ued,
causing a secondary impact on those who had lost so much
already. At a time when they were just beginning to cope with
the initial event, the secondary floods washed away any relief
material that the locals had received.
Oxfam was proactive in the area from day one by providing
support and relief material to locals as part our hygiene promo-tion
campaign.
Under the “Cash for Work” programme, Oxfam gave employment
to many affected people. The locals were given up to 50 days of
work at Rs150 per day. The concept behind the programme is
that the project should benefit the whole community.
“We are building this channel that will mostly be used for
irrigation and to feed the cattle, but most importantly if we
experience flooding of this level again the water should channel
away from the village and our homes.”
The money Ranjini makes not only keeps the household running
but she also manages to use it for the education of her children.
“Yes, we lost the house and it was very upsetting but at least we
are alive, safe and well. And Oxfam has helped us to rebuild our
lives.”
WHERE WE WORKED: BALASORE
Under the Emergency Food Security
Programme, Oxfam provided ration and
supplementary food to 2700 people in
additional to distributing cooked food to over
32,000 affected people. Around 14,000 people
received emergency shelter and hygiene kits.

MAKING THE RESPONSE
PROGRAmMe INCLUSIVE DISABILITY
In the guiding principles of project
selection, persons with disabilities were
prioritised. Disability inclusion was
considered in the construction of
latrines and bathing units.
In the Cash for Work intervention, people
with disabilities were engaged based on
their capacity. They undertook roles
such as management of crèche facilities
at Cash for Work sites. Persons with
disabilities were also identified under
Unconditional Cash Transfer programme.
MONITORING AND
EVAULATION-ENSURING OUR
PROGRAMMES ARE EFFECTIVE
This Real Time Evaluation (RTE) was
introduced to monitor the implementa-tion
of Oxfam’s Cyclone Phailin Response
Programme to date, to gauge effective-ness,
provide quick feedback and
identify systemic issues. Oxfam's two
significant assets in the Cyclone Phailin
response were the speed of its response
compared and the strength of relation-ships
it has with its target communities.
The quality of WASH hardware installa-tion,
Cash for Work implementation,
public hygiene promotion and partner
relationships came out as examples of
good practice in the response.
Oxfam targeted women beneficiaries for EFSVL and WASH programmes. They were actively
engaged in distribution process in every operational district.
GENDER
To ensure gender equality, women’s active participation was
ensured at each level of the planning and distribution process.
Women were encouraged to take leadership and management
roles especially in public health and WASH work.
A conscious effort was made to target women as beneficiaries in
EFSVL and WASH activities. Women also helped to plan the Cash
Transfer programmes. In the guiding principles for project
selection, pregnant and lactating women, single, windowed and
women heading a household were given priority.
Fisherwomen receiving hygienic dry-fish processing and wet fish storing and vending
equipment from Oxfam. They also received technical training to use the equipment.

Challenges
The initial relief phase of the programme was complex to
deliver considering the capacity of the team at the time. The
consultants and the staff had difficulty in understanding the
critical requirement of humanitarian response. However,
orientation on programme and interventions and training on
gender, disability, public health promotion, EFSVL rapid
assessment were organized from time to time.
FUNDING AND RESPONSE SUPPORT
Response Partners
Consortia members in the response include Action
Aid, Plan, Christian Aid, and ADRA
Nakhi Bisoi, a widow and mother of three daughters moved into the
transitional shelter a week ago. The family lived in open for days post Phailin
and then took shelter at a relative’s place. The sense of safety and privacy in
the new house makes it home.

Phailin Emergency Update - July 2014

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