January 13, 2022
The Philippines was devastated by another typhoon in December, this time in heavily populated areas in the southern regions of the country, including Cebu. Due to Rai’s status as a super typhoon, it was equivalent to a category 5 hurricane, which Americans would recognize as the status for Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Super typhoon Rai (Odette) caused an estimated 200,000 people to be evacuated and taken to government shelters for safety. Roughly a dozen Alta employees were directly impacted, and our Manila office jumped into action immediately, setting up a relief fund for employees to donate to. Alta Resources matched the funds raised. Jim Beré, Alta’s CEO and chairman responded to the news by saying, “I’m grateful to our Philippines leadership team for jumping into action so quickly and seamlessly to care for their team, our team. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who were affected.”
Manila was hit by a similar typhoon in late 2020, Typhoon Ulysses (Vamco), and employees showed their true colors then as well through a quick-response employee relief fund. “Filipinos are known for their generous hearts and working hands, and together we’ll rebuild after Super Typhoon Rai, just as we’ve done before,” said Koji Eusebio, Vice President Philippines Operations.
We’d like to thank all our employees and anyone else who has helped those impacted by Super Typhoon Rai in some way.
