A state of calamity is declared in an area which has suffered a tremendous amount of casualties and/or damage to property.
According to the Center for Research for Epidemiology of Disaster and World Health Organization, a disaster affects at least 100 people and kills at least 10. Affected means injured or missing and assumed alive.
There are five reasons why the declaration of a state of calamity is necessary:
- To keep basic and prime commodity prices in control
- To authorize and facilitate the distribution of aid from foreign governments
- To allow tax-free importation of needed commodities like food, clothing, medicine, equipment, and other items for relief and recovery operations
- To provide victims of calamity access to interest-free loans from government financial/lending institutions
- To give permission to local government units to use and spend their emergency funds for their town's recovery