In El Salvador, the storm began on June 14 , causing flooding, rising rivers, storm surges, landslides, and deaths. As of June 21, heavy rains have caused at least 19 deaths, and the country remains flooded. A State of Emergency has been declared for 15 days (effective July 1) to mitigate further risks.

In response to the severe weather, the State of Emergency was decreed on June 16, establishing immediate measures to protect food and nutritional security, create adequate shelter conditions for evacuees, and prevent negative impacts on national production, especially in agriculture, agro-industry, and livestock. Authorities remain on alert due to reports from the US National Hurricane Center, given El Salvador’s vulnerability to climate change.

The overflow of the Jalponga, Jiboa, and Paz rivers has led to the evacuation of over 450 families across various communities, including Hoja de Sal, San José Luna, and Astoria. Additionally, there have been 790 reports of infrastructure damage and 507 affected homes, with fatalities from a landslide in Tacuba. Flooding in Puerto Parada and agricultural losses in Sonsonate and El Paisnal have further exacerbated the situation, destroying hundreds of hectares of crops such as loroco, banana, corn, and pipianes. River overflows in Sonsonate have destroyed over 230 manzanas (approximately 160 hectares) of crops, while in El Paisnal, San Salvador, the Lempa River’s overflow has led to the loss of 250 manzanas (around 174 hectares) of crops.

Humanitarian needs are pressing, with Situation Report No. 10 from the General Directorate of Civil Protection reporting 7,116 people affected, 19 deaths, 19 injuries, 2 missing persons, 4,050 evacuees, 2,789 sheltered individuals, and 237 evacuated but not sheltered. There have been 1,379 incidents related to overflows, fallen trees, landslides, and sinkholes. Urgent humanitarian needs include food, hygiene kits, clothing, sanitation products, and items for babies and pregnant women.

ALFALIT will be leading this emergency response, with the support of professional staff from the LWF, SLS, CAID, and CREDHO in terms of coordination, quality programming, and monitoring. The project will last for one month and will reach 500 families affected by the climate phenomenon through cash transfers.

RRF 09 2024 El Salvador Floods

On Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at 02:35 WITA, Mount Ruang in Sitaro Regency, North Sulawesi, Indonesia erupted with a maximum amplitude of 55 mm and a temporary duration of ± 10 minutes. This eruption was a continuation from the April 16 eruption.
Based on the government’s report and initial assessment, the disaster indicates a moderate impact and is categorised as medium-scale emergency. Around 20,000 people from 12 villages in Tagulandang Resort are greatly affected by this eruption. Communities within a radius of 4-6 km from Mount Ruang have evacuated independently, including those from Bahoi Village, Balehumara Village, Barangka Pahe Village, Mahangian Village, Tulusan Village, Lesa Village and Lesa Rende Village. People were displaced in Sitaro Regency and North Minahasa Regency.
Volcanic ash covered the roads and houses by 2-5 cm, hampering the activities of the community. It also covered several airports around the North Sulawesi region including Sam Ratulangi Manado Airport, Djalaludin Gorontalo Airport, Melonguane Airport, Siau Airport, and Naha Airport, causing access to the North Sulawesi region to be impassable by air for the next couple of days. According to initial assessments, Food, NFIs, Health and protection are the main needs for the people in the IDPs camps.

ACT alliance members PELKESI and YEU with the support from RRF will be providing primary health care services, distribution of health kits, food packages, Shelter kits and psycho-social support to kids. The project is targeting around 6000 beneficiaries in the affected areas of Sitaro district.

RRF 04 2024 Indonesia Volcanic Eruption

Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil, has experienced heavy rains that have flooded 452 municipalities. As of May 15, 2024, these floods have affected over 2 million people, resulting in 538,126 displaced, 76,588 in shelters, approximately 806 injured, 149 confirmed deaths, and 108 missing persons (Civil Defense Bulletin of the State of Rio Grande do Sul).

In early May, continuous heavy rains in Porto Alegre, the Metropolitan Region, and the Vale do Rio Pardo led to the declaration of a state of public calamity on May 2. Porto Alegre, with 1.3 million inhabitants, has 157,000 affected people. Approximately 1.2 million people in Rio Grande do Sul are without electricity. Among the 149 deceased, 103 have been identified, including 37 from the Porto Alegre Metropolitan Region, encompassing various age groups from children to the elderly.

Initial estimates suggest an economic impact of at least USD 2.5 billion, which is expected to grow as more storms are forecasted. The agriculture sector is significantly affected, with soybean prices rising due to harvest reduction fears, and potential impacts on rice, beans, pork, and poultry production. The floods have destroyed homes, workplaces, roads, bridges, and essential infrastructure and services such as drinking water, power supply, and communication.

The situation worsened on May 13 with renewed rains and rising river levels, causing further evacuations of many residents who had previously returned home. This flood is the largest in the history of Rio Grande do Sul. By Monday, May 13, rainfall in Porto Alegre reached 341.7 millimeters for the month, far exceeding the average May rainfall of 113 millimeters (National Institute of Meteorology Inmet).

Civil Defense has issued alerts for most of the state’s river basins, projecting water levels to exceed flood thresholds. The Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFGRS) warns of further rises in water levels due to rainfall and wind effects, with the Guaíba River’s levels expected to exceed 5 meters.

According to a needs assessment conducted by the Fundação Luterana de Diaconia (FLD), the most urgent humanitarian needs are identified in the sectors of food assistance, WASH, and Community-Based Psychosocial Support (CBPS). This action, to be implemented by the FLD, aims to assist 556 families affected by the floods, directly benefiting over 2,780 people. These beneficiaries include women involved in the solidarity economy, waste collectors, indigenous Guarani and Kaingang communities, quilombola communities, and agroecological family farmers in the three most affected regions of the state: the Metropolitan Region, Vale dos Sinos, and Vale do Rio Pardo, over a three-month period.

RRF 03 2024 Brazil floods

The Philippines is currently facing a catastrophic drought, one of the slow-onset effects of climate change, along with other climate impact drivers such as rising sea levels, increased precipitation, stronger wind patterns, and typhoons. This catastrophic drought is driven by the 2023-24 El Niño, which is, according to the United Nations weather agency, one of the five strongest on record.

Climate Change Commission defines Drought as a decrease of 21 to 60 percent in rain occurrences for five consecutive months, or below normal rainfall conditions for three consecutive months. Additionally, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geographical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) reported on March 25 that 37 provinces have experienced drought conditions (3 consecutive months of way below normal rainfall conditions/more than 60% reduction from rainfall average), 22 provinces with dry spell (3 consecutive months of below normal rainfall condition/21%-60% reduction from rainfall average) and 12 provinces with dry condition (2 consecutive months of below normal rainfall condition).

Five (5) provinces declared a state of calamities due to the worst effects of drought in their area, namely Occidental Mindoro (IV-B), Negros Occidental (VI), Sultan Kudarat (XII), and Maguinadanao Del Norte, Maguindanao Del Sur (BARMM). Besides these provinces, 34 local government units also declared a state of calamity.

According to the data released by the Philippines Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center (DROMIC), as of 24 April 2024, there were 531,114 families or 2,283,636 persons affected in 3,053 villages in 11 Regions.

Food and other livelihood support is the main need of the time. It is expected that the need for food and livelihood support in the affected areas is going to increase.

ACT Alliance member National Counsel of Churches in Philippines (NCCP)  with the support from RRF mechanism addressing the urgent needs by providing food packs to 2,400 households, distribution of multi-purpose cash assistance to 300 households and Construction of 2 water pumps/deep wells for 2 communities. link to the detailed proposal attached below.

NCCP_ACT-RRF-Proposal-El Nino Drought

The Global Rapid Response Fund (GRRF) is an annual funding appeal administered by the ACT Alliance secretariat. The fund prioritises ACT local and national members in line with our localisation commitments and in recognition of the distinct advantage these members have in providing timely, high quality, locally led emergency response interventions. Funds for the RRF are provided by ACT Alliance members and non-members.

The total request for funding this year is USD 2,529,167 with a total budget of USD3,250,000, and with last year’s balance carried over of USD 720,833.07. This request will provide assistance in communities impacted by humanitarian crises up to 20 local contexts with a maximum funding ceiling of USD$150,000 per local member. GRRF proposals are assessed based on the ACT Scale up criteria which includes a requirement for requesting members to include a needs assessment and updated EPRP as part of their application for funding. RRF funding projects are normally between a minimum two and maximum six-month duration. Anticipatory action will be piloted this year where an additional allocation of USD 250,000 will be earmarked.

GRRF24 Appeal