• Arup enacted its Disaster Response Protocol in response to the devastating Category 5 Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston.
• The cyclone cut a path of destruction across Fiji’s islands on 20 and 21 February 2016.

The cyclone, the strongest to make landfall over Fiji on record, killed 44 people, destroyed or damaged nearly 55,000 homes and severely affected approximately 350,000 people – roughly 40% of Fiji's population.

Arup's response was coordinated by the Australasia Region and a Disaster Response Team was formed, led by Peter Bowtell with global support where necessary.

Over the last six weeks the team:

• Reached out to humanitarian agencies; RedR, HfH and Save the Children providing both immediate monetary funding of $30,000 and ongoing technical assistance.
• Donate more than AU$6,000 to these agencies via a salary sacrifice donation program across the Australasia region.

Aoibhin Flanagan from Arup’s Melbourne office travelled to Fiji back in April on a three week assignment to Suva where she assisted Habitat for Humanity in a Project Management capacity, analysing data and coordinating the distribution of shelter kits.

The team is now moving from the emergency response phase which focused on fundraising, emergency assistance and needs assessment to the recovery phase which focuses on the provision on technical assistance. A number of Arup staff have asked how they can assist and we now have a substantial Response Register that can be called upon when an assignment comes to us from one of our partners