FSP - Microcosm News- Earth Watch Report: Tacloban

Showing posts with label Tacloban. Show all posts

Monday, November 11, 2013

Food and Water Top Concerns for Philippine Survivors

Relief Efforts Underway in Devastated Philippine Areas

Philippine and U.S. military personnel prepare to load relief goods on a U.S. C-130 plane for victims of Typhoon Haiyan, Villamor Air Base, Nov. 11, 2013.

Simone Orendain

November 11, 2013

MANILLA — In the Central Philippines authorities are struggling to reach many of the some 600,000 people displaced by Super Typhoon Haiyan. Officials anticipate a death toll in the thousands.
At the Villamor Air Force Base in Manila, C130 planes filled with relief goods are headed to one of the hardest hit cities, Tacloban in Leyte Province.
Some relief organizations say their provisions are taking three times longer to get there because so many land routes have been blocked by massive piles of debris from fallen houses and trees.
On the other side of the air field, around 400 people are waiting for a chance to catch a ride on one of the planes headed toward the devastation zone.
Among them is Tito Lucinareo, a father of two boys from a small town 25 kilometers outside Tacloban. He says he did manage to get a call through to one of his brothers who said the children survived the storm. But Lucinareo is not sure if they have food.
He says, “You think about whether your child is eating. Is he hungry? He likes to eat, especially biscuits.”
Lucinareo, his brother and cousins packed bags full of food that they plan to take to their hometown on foot.
Some in Tacloban have resorted to looting with reports of grocery stores and shopping malls being ransacked by people in search of food and clean water. The government said Sunday it would send additional military and police personnel to try to restore order.

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Sunday, November 10, 2013

Philippine typhoon death toll could reach 10,000

King 5.com

by KING Staff and Associated Press

Posted on November 9, 2013 at 11:07 AM

Updated yesterday at 5:50 PM

TACLOBAN, Philippines -- The death toll from one of the strongest storms on record that ravaged the central Philippine city of Tacloban could reach 10,000 people, officials said Sunday after the extend of massive devastation became apparent and horrified residents spoke of storm surges as high as trees.
Regional police chief Elmer Soria said he was briefed by Leyte provincial Gov. Dominic Petilla late Saturday and told there were about 10,000 deaths on the island, mostly by drowning and from collapsed buildings. The governor's figure was based on reports from village officials in areas where Typhoon Haiyan slammed Friday.
Tacloban city administrator Tecson Lim said that the death toll in the city alone "could go up to 10,000.”

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Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Residents walk past debris of destroyed houses in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, eastern island of Leyte on November 9, 2013. One of the strongest typhoons on record killed more than 100 people as savage winds and giant waves flattened communities across the Philippines, authorities said on November 9 while corpses lay amid the devastation. AFP PHOTO / NOEL CELIS (Photo credit should read NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images)

About 300-400 bodies have already been recovered, Lim said.
The typhoon barreled through six central Philippine islands on Friday, wiping away buildings and leveling seaside homes. Most of the deaths and destruction were on Leyte Island, where Tacloban is located.
The typhoon weakened Sunday as it approached central and northern Vietnam where authorities evacuated more than 500,000 people.

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Credit: AFP/Getty Images

People walk among debris of fallen tress at Tacloban airport in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, eastern island of Leyte on November 9, 2013. One of the strongest typhoons on record killed more than 100 people as savage winds and giant waves flattened communities across the Philippines, authorities said on November 9 while corpses lay amid the devastation. AFP PHOTO / NOEL CELIS (Photo credit should read NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images)

"The rescue operation is ongoing. We expect a very high number of fatalities as well as injured," Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said after visiting Tacloban on Saturday. "All systems, all vestiges of modern living -- communications, power, water -- all are down. Media is down, so there is no way to communicate with the people in a mass sort of way.”
The EMPACT Northwest Team is among the international groups on the way to help.
The group of medical specialists and first responders from the Puget Sound area have dropped everything and paid their own way to disasters in Japan, Pakistan, Haiti, Sierra Leone, Haiti and now the Philippines.

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Credit: AFP/Getty Images

A man (C) walks among debris of destroyed houses in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, eastern island of Leyte on November 9, 2013. One of the strongest typhoons on record killed more than 100 people as savage winds and giant waves flattened communities across the Philippines, authorities said on November 9 while corpses lay amid the devastation. AFP PHOTO / NOEL CELIS (Photo credit should read NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Now they’ve teamed up with a Filipino physicians group and will pave the way for other aid organizations.
"I think Seattle and Washington have a strong tie to the Pacific community, so I think it's a huge opportunity for us to be able to go help our brothers and sisters on that rim,” said Jake Gillanders.
HOW TO HELP

EMPACT Northwest: www.empactnorthwest.org/
Filipino Community of Seattle: http://fcseattle.org/

President Benigno Aquino III said the government's priority was to restore power and communications in isolated areas to allow for the delivery of relief and medical assistance to victims.
The Philippine Red Cross and its partners were preparing for a major relief effort "because of the magnitude of the disaster," said the agency's chairman, Richard Gordon.
The airport in Tacloban, a city of 200,000 located about 580 kilometers (360 miles) southeast of Manila, looked like a muddy wasteland of debris Saturday, with crumpled tin roofs and upturned cars. The airport tower's glass windows were shattered, and air force helicopters were busy flying in and out at the start of relief operations.
"The devastation is, I don't have the words for it," Roxas said. "It's really horrific. It's a great human tragedy.”
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Aquino was "speechless" when he told him of the devastation the typhoon had wrought in Tacloban.
"I told him all systems are down," Gazmin said. "There is no power, no water, nothing. People are desperate. They're looting.”
U.S. Marine Col. Mike Wylie surveyed the damage in Tacloban prior to possible American assistance. "The storm surge came in fairly high and there is significant structural damage and trees blown over," said Wylie, who is a member of the U.S.-Philippines Military Assistance Group based in Manila.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement that America "stands ready to help.”
Tacloban is near the Red Beach on Leyte Island where U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur waded ashore on October 20, 1944, fulfilling his famous pledge, "I shall return," made in March 1942 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered him to relocate to Australia as Japanese forces pushed back U.S. and Filipino defenders.
Tacloban was the first city to be liberated by U.S. and Filipino forces and served as the Philippines' temporary capital for several months. It is also the home town of former Filipino first lady Imelda Marcos, whose nephew, Alfred Romualdez, is the city's mayor.
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Saturday, November 9, 2013

Super Typhoon Haiyan Flattens The Philippines - Over 100 Killed In Tacloban. Death toll in Philippines estimated at 1,200

DISASTER IMPACT: Super Typhoon Haiyan Flattens The Philippines - Over 100 Killed In Tacloban!

Published on Nov 8, 2013

The CELESTIAL Convergence | http://thecelestialconvergence.blogsp...

November 09, 2013 - THE PHILIPPINES - More than 100 people were killed in a major Philippine coastal city that took the brunt of Super Typhoon Haiyan, authorities said Saturday. That death toll in Tacloban was the first significant casualty report in a day when authorities began surveying the devastation of a typhoon that has been described as perhaps the strongest storm ever to make landfall in recorded history.

Capt. John Andrews, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, told CNN that he received a radio report from the Tacloban airport station manager who said there are more than 100 bodies in the street in Tacloban and more than 100 people injured. Traveling aboard a military cargo plane from Manila, CNN's Paula Hancocks was among the first journalists to see the catastrophe in Tacloban on Saturday. "It looks as though a tsunami swept through here," she said by satellite phone.

The airport terminal was "completely destroyed," and shell-shocked Filipinos were gathering around the airport with the anticipation that the military was bringing food, water and medicine, Hancocks said. Officials told her that the water surge reached the second story of structures, she said. There were at least two bodies at the airport, she added. Every tree was flattened or snapped in half, and the timber landed on roads, blocking transportation, she said. "You assume as you go inland you'll find more people who are injured or who have lost their lives," Hancocks said. From the plane, she said, "you could see a lot of groundwater on the land itself, and pretty much every single tree was damaged.

"That showed the sheer force of the surge and the wind," she said. "On the ocean front, you can see the defenses were damaged." Residents waded through waist-high water in the streets Saturday. Vehicles were turned over or piled on one another. Fallen utility poles were in the middle of roads. Philippine officials feared the death toll would grow. "Yes, we are worried about the eastern side, the Tacloban area," said Rene Almendras, secretary to the cabinet. In a separate report earlier Saturday, as reports began coming in to authorities, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council indicated at least four people were killed. At least seven people were hurt, and four people were missing, the council also said Saturday. The destruction is expected to be catastrophic. Storm clouds covered the entire Philippines, stretching 1,120 miles -- equal to a distance between Florida and Canada. The deadly wind field, or tropical storm force winds, covered an area the size of Montana or Germany. The typhoon first roared onto the country's eastern island of Samar at 4:30 a.m. Friday, flooding streets and knocking out power and communications in many areas of the region of Eastern Visayas, and then continued its march, barreling into five other Philippine islands. Then, predawn Saturday, it headed toward Vietnam. Haiyan weakened Saturday and was no longer a super typhoon, rather a typhoon with sustained winds of 130 mph. But the storm could return to super typhoon status Saturday.

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Typhoon Haiyan death toll in Philippines estimated at 1,200

Red Cross and other humanitarian agencies describe hundreds of bodies floating in waters and on roads amid destruction

Conal Urquhart and agencies
theguardian.com, Saturday 9 November 2013 08.12 EST

Link to video: Philippines typhoon Haiyan: scale of devastation emerges The Philippines Red Cross said it has received reports of 1,200 deaths in two areas devastated by typhoon Haiyan.
The agency said that at least 1,000 had been killed in Tacloban and 200 in Samar province. The typhoon has passed over the Philippines and is expected to hit Vietnam later today. Communication and transports links have been disrupted by the storm making it difficult to assess damage and offer assistance.
Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, said the numbers came from preliminary reports by Red Cross teams in Tacloban and Samar, among the most devastated areas hit by typhoon Haiyan on Friday.
"An estimated more than 1,000 bodies were seen floating in Tacloban as reported by our Red Cross teams," she told Reuters. "In Samar, about 200 deaths. Validation is ongoing."
The death toll from typhoon Haiyan is expected to rise sharply as rescue workers reach areas cut off by the fast-moving storm, whose circumference eclipsed the whole country and which late on Saturday was heading for Vietnam.
Roads in the coastal city of Tacloban in the central Leyte province, one of the worst-hit areas, were either underwater or blocked by fallen trees and power lines, and debris from homes blown away by Haiyan. Bodies covered in plastic sheeting were lying on the streets.
"The last time I saw something of this scale was in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami," said Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, head of the UN disaster ssessment co-ordination team sent to Tacloban. "This is destruction on a massive scale. There are cars thrown like tumbleweed and the streets are strewn with debris."
The category 5 "super typhoon" weakened to a category 4 on Saturday, though forecasters said it could strengthen again over the South China Sea, en route to Vietnam.

Read More Here

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09.11.2013

Tropical Storm

Philippines

Western Visayas, Iloilo City

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Tropical Storm in Philippines on Thursday, 07 November, 2013 at 13:18 (01:18 PM) UTC.

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Updated:	Friday, 08 November, 2013 at 17:29 UTC
Description
A powerful typhoon, dubbed the strongest ever to hit land, strikes the Philippines, forcing more than a million people to flee their homes, and is expected to hit China on Saturday. Typhoon Haiyan, a category-five super typhoon, scoured the northern tip of Cebu province and headed west towards Boracay island, both of them tourist destinations, after lashing the central islands of Leyte and Samar with 275kph (170mph) wind gusts and 5-6m (15-19ft) waves. Three people were killed and seven injured, national disaster agency spokesman Rey Balido told a news briefing at the main army base in Manila. The death toll could rise as reports come in from stricken areas. Power and communications in the three large island provinces of Samar, Leyte and Bohol were almost completely down but the government and telephone service providers promised to restore them within 24 hours. The state weather bureau said Typhoon Haiyan was expected to move past the Philippines on Saturday and out over the South China Sea, where it could become even stronger and threaten Vietnam or China. Chief Forecaster of Guangdong Provincial Meteorological Department, Lu Shan, said Guangdong has bore the impact of several typhoons this year. He said: "This year tropical cyclones have affected Guangdong province quite a lot. "There were 10 typhoons that have seriously affected or made landfall on Guangdong, three of which made landfall were Rumbia, Usagi and Utor, respectively. Two of these three made strong landfalls in our province. "So the typhoons have seriously affected Guangdong this year." Authorities warned that more than 12 million people were at risk, including residents of Cebu city, which has a population of about 2.5 million, and areas still reeling from a deadly 2011 storm and a 7.2 magnitude quake last month. "The super typhoon likely made landfall with winds near 195mph (313kph). This makes Haiyan the strongest tropical cyclone on record to make landfall," said Jeff Masters, director of meteorology at US-based Weather Underground.

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Tropical Storm in Philippines on Thursday, 07 November, 2013 at 13:18 (01:18 PM) UTC.

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Updated:	Saturday, 09 November, 2013 at 04:39 UTC
Description
The death toll from Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) started to rise Saturday with one reported death in Iloilo, even as at least four were reported missing by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. In its 6 a.m. update, the NDRRMC said one of the latest fatalities was Rhandy Cejar, 56, of Calinog in Iloilo. It said he died of electrocution. The NDRRMC's list of fatalities includes those whose deaths are confirmed by the Department of Health. In an iterview on "News TV Live" on Satruday morning, Secretary to the Cabinet Rene Almendras said Yolanda's death toll is certainly more than three people, but he declined to give an exact count. As to estimates to damage to property, he said, "...inaalam pa ang extent ng damage." But a separate report by radio dzBB's Palawan affiliate James Viernes said at least three people were reported dead in Coron. Coron had lost its giant cross following Yolanda's onslaught. The NDRRMC said at least four were missing, identified as Cecilito Baluntag (Cebu), Manuelito Casipong, 35, Emmanuel Gonzales, and Richard Gonzales (Quezon). The NDRRMC also said Yolanda had affected 161,973 families or 792,018 people, who were preemptively evacuated to 812 evacuation centers in 37 provinces. At least five roads in Bicol and Eastern Visayas were not passable. Classes in private and public schools at all levels were suspended Saturday in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon. At least 3,398 passengers, 76 vessels, 743 rolling cargoes and eight motor bancas were stranded in Southern Luzon, Bicol and Visayas, and even Zamboanga and Jolo. Power was restored in parts of Sibulan and Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental and in Siquijor, Siquijor.

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Tropical Storm in Philippines on Thursday, 07 November, 2013 at 13:18 (01:18 PM) UTC.

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Updated:	Saturday, 09 November, 2013 at 11:07 UTC
Description
One of the strongest storms on record slammed into the central Philippines, killing more than 100 people whose bodies lay in the streets of one of the hardest-hit cities, an official said Saturday. Capt. John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, said more than 100 others were injured in the city of Tacloban on Leyte Island, where Typhoon Haiyan hit Friday. With power and most communications knocked out a day after the typhoon ravaged the central region, Andrew told The Associated Press that the information about the deaths was relayed to him by his staff in Tacloban. "The information is reliable," he said. Nearly 750,000 people were forced to flee their homes, and damage was believed to be extensive. Weather officials said Haiyan had sustained winds of 147 mph with gusts of 170 mph when it made landfall. By those measurements, Haiyan would be comparable to a strong Category 4 hurricane in the U.S., nearly in the top category, a 5. Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons are the same thing. They are just called different names in different parts of the world. Because of cut-off communications in the Philippines, it was impossible to know the full extent of casualties and damage. Officially, four people were listed as dead as of Saturday morning, before the latest information from Tacloban came in. Southern Leyte Gov. Roger Mercado said the typhoon ripped roofs off houses and triggered landslides that blocked roads. The dense clouds and heavy rains made the day seem almost as dark as night, he said. "When you're faced with such a scenario, you can only pray, and pray and pray," Mercado told The Associated Press by telephone, adding that mayors in the province had not called in to report any major damage. "I hope that means they were spared and not the other way around," he said. "My worst fear is there will be massive loss of lives and property." Eduardo del Rosario, head of the disaster response agency, said the speed at which the typhoon sliced through the central islands helped prevent its 375-mile band of rain clouds from dumping enough of their load to overflow waterways. Flooding from heavy rains is often the main cause of deaths from typhoons. "It has helped that the typhoon blew very fast in terms of preventing lots of casualties," regional military commander Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda said. He said the massive evacuation of villagers before the storm also saved many lives.