Children 'facing new threats after Philippines Typhoon'

Thousands of children in evacuation centres in the Phillipines are at risk of flooding, disease and exploitation, in the aftermath of Typhoon Koppu, charity Save the Children says.

Disaster emergency teams are on standby after Typhoon Koppu hit the northern Philippines. (AAP) Source: AAP

At least 16 people are dead, and 60,000 people displaced, with and authorities still working to determine the scale of the damage.

Save the Children’s Country Director in the Phillipines, Ned Olney, says many families have been left literally without a roof over their heads, and that critical needs hygiene and clean water supplies.

“Many of them will have lost their homes and most of their assets - their clothes, their ability to cook, school supplies - so what we're trying to do is return these children to normalcy.”

The charity is also working to protect children from a human threat, which he says is often an unspoken area of emergency response.

“When communities are uprooted, when people are on the move, when schools are out, there’s always a chance of child trafficking.”

Save the Children is gearing up to dispatch 1,000 relief kits to the worst-affected areas in Aurora Province.

The children’s agency will send emergency supplies like tarpaulins to serve as emergency shelter, and basic household, hygiene and water items for the most vulnerable families affected by the typhoon.