University: Singapore students in Philippines
typhoon hit-zone found and safe
Published on Nov 11, 2013
1:31 PM
Vanessa Chong Yuting, (second from left), Alyssa Chee Pui Yee (third from left), Eileen Heng Mei Ting (right). The three
Singaporean students in Tacloban, Philippines, who were uncontactable over the weekend since Super Typhoon Haiyan hit
the the city have been found and are safe, said their school. -- PHOTO: FAMILY OF VANESSA CHONG
By Hoe Pei Shan
The three Singaporean students in Tacloban, Philippines, who were uncontactable over the weekend since
Super Typhoon Haiyan hit the the city have been found and are safe, said their school.
In an official response to queries from The Straits Times, Flinders University Acting Vice-Chancellor,
Professor Andrew Parkin said the school "is delighted that the three Flinders students who were in the
typhoon-affected area of the Philippines have been found safe and well".
"We have been in regular contact with the families of the three students over the weekend. The University
is investigating options to expedite the return of the students to their families in Singapore as soon as
possible," he added.
The trio - Ms Eileen Heng, Ms Alyssa Chee and Ms Vanessa Chong - are all 23-year-old final-year
Nutrition and Dietetics students at Flinders University, Australia.
They had flown to Tacloban on Oct 20 for a month-long school placement project under Flinders to work
with a local nonprofit, Volunteer for the Visayans, tailoring projects to combat hunger and improve food
security in the area. They had been scheduled to fly back on Nov 22, said Ms Chee's boyfriend, Mr Jeremy
Liang.
In an email to Flinders students, the university's Dean of Medicine Professor Paul Worley said: "We have
just received reliable news that they are safe and well, and arrangements are being made for their
evacuation."
A separate email to students sent by the university's International Student Services Unit noted that the
school had learnt of the information "at mid-morning on Monday, through the social media page of a staff
member at Volunteers for Visayans".
Singaporean students in Philippines typhoon
zone safe, and finally contact family
Published on Nov 11, 2013
5:53 PM
Vanessa Chong Yuting, (second from left), Alyssa Chee Pui Yee (third from left), Eileen Heng Mei Ting (right). The three
Singaporean students who were in Tacloban, Phillipines, when a deadly typhoon hit are safe and have contacted their
families. -- PHOTO: FAMILY OF VANESSA CHONG
By Hoe Pei Shan
The three Singaporean students who were in Tacloban, Phillipines, when a deadly typhoon hit are safe and
have contacted their families.
Ms Eileen Heng, Ms Alyssa Chee and Ms Vanessa Chong - all 23-year-old final-year Nutrition and
Dietetics students at Flinders University in Australia, had previously been unaccounted for over the
weekend.
But one of the family members confirmed that they have finally managed to get in touch with the trio.
Speaking to The Straits Times on Monday evening, Ms Chong's younger sister, Amelia, said: "Yes, we
finally heard from my dearest sister Vanessa."
She added that her sister had called their mother to say she is at the Tacloban Airport and "is safe with the
Singapore Civil Defence Force".
The Straits Times understands that the trio are to be flown out of Tacloban to Manila onboard a military
aircraft.
The three students had gone to Tacloban on Oct 20 for a month-long school placement project under
Flinders to work with a local non-profit group, Volunteer for the Visayans, tailoring projects to combat
hunger and improve food security in the area. They had been scheduled to fly back on Nov 22.
Red Cross launches typhoon relief donation
appeal
Published on Nov 11, 2013
7:29 PM
Personnel of the Philippines Army 51st engineer corps load water for victims of Typhoon Haiyan at Villamor Air Force Base
in Manila, Philippines on Monday, Nov 11, 2013. The Singapore Red Cross (SRC) has launched a dedicated fundraising
appeal to receive donations for Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts. -- PHOTO: AP
By Hoe Pei Shan
The Singapore Red Cross (SRC) has launched a dedicated fundraising appeal to receive donations for
Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts.
Donations may be sent to the Red Cross House at 15 Penang Lane. Alternatively, cheques can be posted to
'Singapore Red Cross Society' at the above address. The Singapore Government is contributing an
additional $150,000 through SRC to kickstart the public appeal. This is on top of the $50,000 committed
yesterday.
SRC also announced Monday evening that hotlines have been activated to assist Singaporeans and
Filipinos in locating their family members who may have been affected by the disaster or difficult to
contact.
For assistance in locating a family member, call the Singapore Red Cross at its hotlines 6664- 0501 or
6664-0502 with details of your missing family member. Operating hours are from 9am to 7pm on
weekdays and 9am to noon on weekends.
SRC has already committed its first tranche of humanitarian aid, emergency relief supplies worth $100,000
for the survivors' immediate needs.
A team of SRC volunteers and staff will leave for the affected areas at Visayas on Thursday to help with
the distribution of relief items. SRC is working closely with the Philippine Red Cross to despatch medical
teams to the affected areas in the coming weeks.
MFA: 3 Singaporean students safe and have
flown out of Philippines typhoon zone
Published on Nov 11, 2013
8:46 PM
Singapore's Ambassador to the Philippines, Mr Hirubalan V P (right), met the Singaporeans (from left), Eileen Heng, Alyssa
Chee and Vanessa Chong, at the headquarters of Villamor airbase, Manila. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed in a
statement on Monday, Nov 11, 2013, that the three Singaporean students who were in Tacloban, Phillipines, when a deadly
typhoon hit, are safe and now in Manila. -- PHOTO: MFA
By Hoe Pei Shan
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed in a statement Monday evening that the three Singaporean
students who were in Tacloban, Phillipines, when a deadly typhoon hit, are safe and now in Manila.
"The three Singaporean girls, Ms Eileen Heng, Ms Alyssa Chee and Ms Vanessa Chong, who were earlier
uncontactable, have arrived safely in Manila, and were met by the staff of our Embassy," said a statement
from the MFA at 8.45pm. "We hope to reunite the girls with their families as soon as possible."
Ms Eileen Heng, Ms Alyssa Chee and Ms Vanessa Chong - all 23-years-old and final-year Nutrition and
Dietetics students at Flinders University in Australia - had previously been unaccounted for over the
weekend since the typhoon hit Tacloban on Friday.
It was only after three days of agonized waiting that their families finally heard from them on Monday.
Speaking to The Straits Times on Monday evening, Ms Chong's younger sister, Amelia said: "Yes, we
finally heard from my dearest sister Vanessa." Her sister had called their mother earlier to inform them that
she was "safe with the Singapore Civil Defence Force" and at the Tacloban Airport.
The Straits Times understand the trio will fly back to Singapore directly from Manila.
The three students had gone to Tacloban on Oct 20 for a month-long school placement project under
Flinders to work with a local non-profit group, Volunteer for the Visayans, tailoring projects to combat
hunger and improve food security in the area. They had been scheduled to fly back on Nov 22.
Typhoon Haiyan: World sends emergency
relief to battered Philippines
Published on Nov 11, 2013
1:32 PM
Marines secure gear onto a pallet during preparations for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mission to the
Philippines at the US Futenma airbase in Ginowan, on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, on Nov 10, 2013 in this
handout provided by US Marine Corps. The US, Australia and the UN are mobilising emergency aid to the Philippines as the
scale of the devastation unleashed by Super Typhoon Haiyan emerges. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
MANILA (AFP) - The United States, Australia and the United Nations are mobilising emergency aid to
the Philippines as the scale of the devastation unleashed by Super Typhoon Haiyan emerges.
The Pentagon is sending military personnel and equipment to assist with the relief effort following the
typhoon, which may have killed more than 10,000 people in what is feared to be the Philippines' worst
natural disaster.
"The United States is already providing significant humanitarian assistance, and we stand ready to further
assist the government's relief and recovery efforts," US President Barack Obama said in a statement.
Some 90 Marines and sailors, and two KC-130J Hercules aircraft, left Japan for the Philippines on
Saturday, with equipment that include a tilt-rotor aircraft that can operate without runways, Marines
Colonel John Peck said.
The Australian government pledged A$10 million (US$11.7 million), with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop
describing the unfolding tragedy as "absolutely devastating" and on a "massive scale". The sum includes
A$4 million towards a UN global appeal and A$3 million for Australian non-government organisations.
The aid will include tarpaulins, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, water containers, and health and hygiene kits.
A team of Australian medics will leave on Wednesday via a C17 military transport plane from Darwin to
join disaster experts already on the ground, the government said, after it disbursed emergency funds worth
US$490,000 on Sunday.
Philippine rescue teams were said to be overwhelmed in their efforts to help those whose homes and
livelihoods were destroyed after Haiyan ravaged large swathes of the archipelago Friday. Officials were
struggling to cope with the scale of death and destruction, with reports of violent looters and scarcity of
food, drinking water and shelter.
United Nations leader Ban Ki Moon promised UN humanitarian agencies would "respond rapidly to help
people in need". The UN children's fund Unicef said a cargo plane carrying 60 tonnes of aid, including
shelters and medicine, would arrive in the Philippines on Tuesday, to be followed by deliveries of water
purification and sanitation equipment.
Pope Francis led 60,000 people in Sunday prayers for the Philippines, urging the faithful to provide
"concrete help" to the largely Roman Catholic country.
"Sadly, there are many, many victims and the damage is huge," he said.
Other aid mobilised for the Philippines includes:
- The European Commission said it would give three million euros (S$5 million) towards the relief efforts.
- Britain offered an emergency support package worth US$9.6 million (S$12 million). Germany's embassy
in Manila said an initial shipment of 23 tonnes of aid was being flown in and German rescue teams were
already at work.
- Like Australia, New Zealand also increased its humanitarian relief on Monday, bringing its total to
NZ$2.15 million (S$2.21 million), while Canada has promised up to US$5 million to aid organisations.
- Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said it was sending 200 tonnes of aid, including
medicine, tents and hygiene kits to arrive mid-week, with the first cargo plane leaving from Dubai on
Monday and another from Belgium on Tuesday.
- Taiwan's government pledged immediate cash aid of US$200,000 and the Singapore government donated
US$40,000.
- Oxfam, the British-based relief organisation, said it has sent an assessment team ahead of aid operations.
Typhoon Haiyan: First US aid plane leaves
Manila for devastated province
Published on Nov 11, 2013
2:01 PM
MANILA (AP) - A US military plane carrying relief supplies and a contingent of Marines has left the
Philippine capital Manila en route to the Philippines' typhoon-devastated eastern seaboard.
The C-130 left Manila's Villamor Air Base on Monday loaded with bottled water, generators wrapped in
plastic, a forklift and two trucks. It was the first American relief flight to the region, where thousands are
feared dead and tens of thousands more homeless as a result of Friday's typhoon.
The flight was headed for Tacloban, a city badly hit by the storm and in desperate need of assistance.
Typhoon Haiyan: Birth amid typhoon debris
cheered in Philippines
Published on Nov 11, 2013
2:25 PM
New-born baby Bea Joy is held by relative Michelle Satur after her mother Emily Ortega, 21, gave birth in an improvised
clinic at Tacloban airport on Monday, Nov 11, 2013, in Tacloban city, Leyte province in central Philippines. Cheers broke
out on Monday in the typhoon-devastated airport of the city of Tacloban in the Philippines when 21-year old Emily Ortega
gave birth to a baby girl. -- PHOTO: AP
TACLOBAN (AP) - Cheers broke out on Monday in the typhoon-devastated airport of the city of
Tacloban in the Philippines when 21-year old Emily Ortega gave birth to a baby girl.
It was a rare piece of good news for the seaside city, where officials fear at least 10,000 were killed and
where tens of thousands of residents saw their homes flattened by ferocious winds and a massive storm
surge from Typhoon Haiyan.
The typhoon made landfall on Friday, barrelling through six central Philippine islands, wiping away
buildings and levelling seaside homes with winds of 235 kmh and gusts of 275 kmh.
Baby Bea Joy Sagales appeared in good health. Her birth drew applause from others at the airport and
military medics who assisted in her delivery. Her birth was near miraculous - her mother was in an
evacuation centre when the storm surge hit and flooded the city. The mother had to swim and cling to a
post to survive before she found safety at the airport. Her husband in Manila was unaware of what has
happened.
Typhoon Haiyan: Storm-chaser says
Philippines super typhoon 'off the scale'
Published on Nov 11, 2013
8:26 PM
A surivor walks among the debris of houses destroyed by Super Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban in the eastern Philippine island
of Leyte on Monday, Nov 11, 2013. Super Typhoon Haiyan left unimaginable destruction in its wake after it smashed into
the Philippines early on Friday, leaving more than 10,000 feared dead and sparking a worldwide relief effort. -- PHOTO:
AFP
HONG KONG (AFP) - For professional storm-chaser James Reynolds, whose day job involves capturing
typhoons, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions at heart-stoppingly close range, intense danger goes with the
territory.
But the soft-spoken cameraman, who has spent the past eight years filming Asia's deadliest natural
disasters, including the aftermath of Japan's 2011 quake-tsunami catastrophe, says super typhoon Haiyan
was the most terrifying event he has witnessed.
"I've chased nothing like this before. This was just totally off the scale, both in terms of the violence of the
storm and then the human tragedy, the consequences of such a powerful natural event hitting a city of
200,000 people," Mr Reynolds told AFP.
"Scientists are saying it's a candidate for one of the strongest storms to ever hit land. From a personal point
of view, this was the most calamitous event I've witnessed," said the 30-year-old who has faced more than
35 typhoons at first hand.
Haiyan left unimaginable destruction in its wake after it smashed into the Philippines early on Friday,
leaving more than 10,000 feared dead and sparking a worldwide relief effort.
Mr Reynolds and his crew of two flew to Manila days before the typhoon was scheduled to strike, setting
up camp in Tacloban, the coastal city which bore the brunt of the storm when it made landfall. Years of
storm-chasing has taught Mr Reynolds to choose hotels with strong concrete structures that will remain
upright and to stay elevated to avoid being caught in the storm surge flooding the city after it makes
landfall.
Footage shot from his hotel balcony shows the unfolding destruction as winds reaching 315kmh and sheets
of rain sweep in from the Pacific, destroying his video-camera and forcing him to improvise with a small
Go-Pro camera and then an iPhone.
"It was just a deafening roar, the wind screaming. You could feel the building shaking as large objects
were crashing into the side of the hotel. For anyone out in the street exposed to it, it would have been
instant death."
As the streets flooded with seawater, the cameramen found themselves turning rescuers as elderly people
staying the ground floor of the hotel became trapped in their rooms by the rising waters. They used
mattresses as makeshift rafts to float them to safety in the stairwell of the building.
"Thankfully in our hotel everyone made it out safely, but the next day we could see bodies of people lying
in the vicinity of the hotel, people who didn't make it through the storm," Mr Reynolds said.
"I ventured down right to the coastline where a community had basically been wiped out. It looked like a
tsunami had come through, shell-shocked citizens sifting through the rubble of their homes, trying to
calculate if they had anything left at all.
"It was every man, woman and child for themselves. We saw desperate people looting for food, water,
medicines."
The team were forced to leave the Philippines earlier than planned after one of his team severely injured
himself on a piece of sheet metal floating in the filthy, debris-stricken floodwater, leaving a six-inch gash
in his leg that cut through to the shinbone.
"It was honestly a life or death situation. He needed medical attention as soon as possible. When you are
trapped in a tropical environment with a massive leg wound, if you get an infection it doesn't take long for
things to go very, very bad."
While visibly shaken, Mr Reynolds has no plans to give up on getting as close as possible to the disasters
that batter Asia with tragic frequency.
"I want to put myself firmly within the storm and document it so people can see not only what it's like to
go through one of these storms, but the far-reaching effects they have on the communities they hit - in this
case, extreme, extreme, devastation."
Typhoon Haiyan: Flaws seen in Philippine
disaster preparations, response
Published on Nov 11, 2013
9:09 PM
A man paints a message on a baskeball court that reads "Help SOS We Need Food" at Anibong in Tacloban, eastern island
of Leyte on Nov 11, 2013. Hundreds of Philippine soldiers and police poured into a city devastated by Super Typhoon
Haiyan on November 11 to try to contain looting that threatens an emergency relief effort. -- PHOTO: AFP
BEIJING (AP) - Hours before Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, authorities had evacuated 800,000
people and sent them to sturdy evacuation centres - churches, schools and public buildings.
But the brick-and-mortar structures were simply no match for the jet-force winds and massive walls of
waves that swept away everything in their path.
By the time the storm ended five hours later on Friday evening, some 10,000 people would be dead,
washed away by the churning waters pouring in from Pacific Ocean's inexhaustible supply.
The Philippine tragedy was another reminder that nature's fury is sometimes so immense that it can
overwhelm even the most diligent preparations humans can mount. Combine that with a string of
unfortunate circumstances - some man-made - and the result is a disaster of epic proportions that the
country is now faced with.
"Sometimes, no matter how much and how carefully you prepare, the disaster is just too big," said Dr
Zhang Qiang, an expert on disaster mitigation at Beijing Normal University's Institute for Social
Development and Public Policy.
Authorities would have believed that they had responded well to the typhoon warnings by evacuating
people living in flimsy homes along the coast to concrete structures inland. But they had not anticipated
the 6-metre-high storm surges that swept through Tacloban, the capital of the worst-hit Leyte province, an
island.
"I was talking to the people of Tacloban," said Senior Presidential aide Rene Alemendras. "They said 'we
were ready for the wind. We were not ready for the water."'
"Someone was joking that we should have disaster preparation 101. We tried our very best to warn
everybody...but it was really just overwhelming, especially the storm surge. It was really something," she
said.
Besides those who perished while sheltering in evacuation centres, many of the dead had stayed put in
their homes, either for fear of letting their property fall prey to looters or because they underestimated the
risk.
While the storm surges proved deadly, the initial destruction was caused by the winds blasting at 235
kilometers per hour (kph) that occasionally blew with speeds of up to 275 kph (170), howling like jet
engines.
Lt. Col. Fermin Carangan, an air force commander in Leyte, said he was at his base in Tacloban, preparing
for the storm with his men when the wind and water started coming in.
"It was 7.30 in the morning. The rain and wind were so strong and the water surged in fast and rose
without letup. We had no time to move elsewhere, so we clambered up the room, about 10 of us," he told
The Associated Press.
"Then the roof started to peel off. One by one we were exposed to the rain and we were just holding to the
roof wooden beams. Then the walls of the building started collapsing and each one of us started falling into
the water. We were yelling at each other. Then all of us got separated," said Lt. Col. Carangan, 45.
The 25-year veteran of the air force managed to grab a wooden truss from the roof and clung to it for five
hours while being buffeted by waves.
"The tide was coming from all over ... I had no sense of direction," he said. The waves eased after five
hours and he paddled his makeshift lifeboat toward land in a neighbouring province. Gashed, cut and
bruised, he hit a coconut tree and noticed a boy about 7-year-old floating nearby on a piece of wood.
He got hold of the boy and both finally made it to the nearby village. After handing over the boy to a
policeman, he walked to an army base.
The Philippines sees about 20 typhoons per year. Most strike the north along the main island of Luzon and
the population in the central islands, where Leyte is located, is less aware of the potential for disaster.
The region is also blighted by its geography. It is made up of a string of islands, and there is only so much
land where people can be evacuated to, unless they can be flown or ferried to the mainland.
The Philippines' disaster preparation and relief capacities are also hampered by political factors. It lacks a
strong central government and provincial governors have virtual autonomy in dealing with local problems.
Contrast this with Vietnam, which sees about a dozen typhoons per year. It is similarly poor and densely
populated but a centralized Communist Party-led government broadcasts clear messages that cannot be
ignored by provinces. Also, because of a clearly defined land mass unlike the archipelago of the
Philippines it is easy to evacuate people deep inland.
"This is not the time to judge. ... The national government and the local government all need to work
together not to criticise anyone or not to show that one is better than the other," said Mr Alemendras, the
presidential aide.
But even with adequate resources and a robust government authority, forces of nature and the
unpredictability of people can put paid to even the best plans, as seen when Hurricane Katrina plowed into
New Orleans in 2005.
More than 1,400 deaths were blamed on the massive storm and its aftermath, mainly among the 10-20 per
cent of the city's population that was unable or unwilling to leave before it hit.
In Japan, meanwhile, the 2011 tsunami might have killed many more without in-place emergency response
measures, but an inadequate response to the nuclear power station crisis that followed seriously
compounded the disaster.
Because each crisis is different, management plans need to be flexible and adaptable to the changing
situation, said Dr Zhang, the disaster expert. Rather than specific pre-set directives, they work best as a list
of options, he said.
That, however, requires access to complete, up-to-date information, something authorities in the
Philippines have in short supply. Many areas have been cut-off because of damage to roads and other
infrastructure and staffing problems have interrupted the collection of basic data on what supplies are
needed.
As the scale of the disaster became apparent on Sunday, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said local
governments hadn't been able to provide the necessary data to coordinate relief, partly because rescue
workers themselves had suffered from the storm and weren't able to show up for work.
Mr Aquino pledged that problems in preparedness and response would not go ignored.
Typhoon Haiyan: Pope sends $187,000 to
Philippines
Published on Nov 11, 2013
9:55 PM
Pope Francis (above) has sent what the Vatican calls initial assistance to the typhoon-ravaged Philippines - US$150,000
(S$187,026) to help those left homeless. -- PHOTO: AP
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis has sent what the Vatican calls initial assistance to the typhoonravaged Philippines - US$150,000 (S$187,026) to help those left homeless.
The money will be sent by the Holy See's charity organisation Cor Unum to local churches in the hardest
hit areas, particularly Leyte and Samar islands.
The Vatican described the cash donation as "a first and immediate concrete expression" of the pope's
encouragement and spiritual closeness to Filipinos.
On Sunday, Pope Francis urged people to provide concrete help to those affected by the typhoon and led
tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square in silent prayer for the storm's victims.
The Philippines has Asia's largest Catholic population.
Typhoon Haiyan: US sends more troops to
Philippines
Published on Nov 11, 2013
11:13 PM
In this photo released by the US Marine Corps, Marines load palletised equipment onto a KC-130J Hercules aircraft
November 11, 2013 at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan, during preparation for a humanitarian assistance
and disaster relief mission to the Philippines in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan. -- PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States has sent an additional 180 troops to the storm-ravaged
Philippines for humanitarian assistance efforts, the Marine Corps said on Monday.
Four MV-22B Ospreys - aircraft that can operate in difficult environments - and three KC-130J Hercules
planes headed to the disaster zones from Japan over the course of the afternoon and evening, according to a
statement.
On board were some 180 marines and sailors tasked with helping a humanitarian assistance survey team on
the ground in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, which may have killed as many as 10,000 people as it
flattened entire towns just days ago.
Some 90 marines and sailors are already in the disaster-stricken country for an assistance evaluation
mission.
US marines who arrived in the city of Tacoblan earlier on Monday to deliver emergency supplies
expressed shock at the devastation.
"Everything's destroyed," said Brigadier General Paul Kennedy, the commanding general of the Okinawabased 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.
Since 1990, the US government has responded to more than 40 disasters in the Philippines, according to
the Pentagon.
Typhoon Haiyan: US pledges to help
Philippines recover from storm
Published on Nov 12, 2013
12:11 AM
Children hold signs asking for help and food along the highway, after Typhoon Haiyan hit Tabogon town in Cebu Province,
central Philippines Nov 11, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
MANILA (AP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that he told Philippine Foreign
Minister Albert del Rosario that the United States is fully committed to helping the Philippines recover
from one of the most powerful typhoons on record.
The US government is organising emergency shipments of critically needed material to provide shelter to
the hundreds of thousands of displaced Filipinos and food and hygiene supplies to thousands of families,
Mr Kerry said in a statement.
He said he assured Mr del Rosario "of our full commitment to providing all necessary assistance."
The US military is providing logistical support for the distribution of relief supplies, and the Agency for
International Development is helping evaluate the damage from the typhoon. The State Department is also
working to send American military veterans to the Philippines to help people recover from the storm, Mr
Kerry said.
Earlier Monday, a US military plane carrying relief supplies and a contingent of Marines left the Philippine
capital en route to the country's typhoon-devastated eastern seaboard.
The C-130 left Manila's Vilamor air base loaded with bottled water, generators wrapped in plastic, a
forklift and two trucks.
It was the first American relief flight to the region, where thousands are feared dead and tens of thousands
more homeless as a result of Friday's typhoon.
The flight was headed for Tacloban, a city badly hit by the storm and in desperate need of assistance.
Typhoon Haiyan: Death toll to rise as
rescuers reach remote areas
Published on Nov 12, 2013
6:18 AM
Soldiers prepare to load food supplies into a Philippine air force helicopter at Tacloban airport on Nov 11, 2013, following
Friday's Typhoon Haiyan that lashed this city and several provinces in the central Philippines. Rescue workers were trying to
reach towns and villages in the central Philippines on Nov 12 that were cut off by a powerful typhoon in an operation that
could reveal the full extent of the loss of life and devastation from the disaster. -- PHOTO: AP
TACLOBAN, Philippines (REUTERS) - Rescue workers were trying to reach towns and villages in the
central Philippines on Tuesday that were cut off by a powerful typhoon in an operation that could reveal
the full extent of the loss of life and devastation from the disaster.
Officials in Tacloban, which bore the brunt of one of the strongest storms ever recorded when it slammed
into the Philippines on Friday, have said the death toll could be 10,000 in their city alone.
Compounding the misery for survivors, a depression is due to bring rain to the central and southern
Philippines on Tuesday, the weather bureau said.
"I think what worries us the most is that there are so many areas where we have no information from, and
when we have this silence, it usually means the damage is even worse," said Mr Joseph Curry of the
United States (US) organisation Catholic Relief Services.
The "sheer size of the emergency" in the wake of the typhoon was testing relief efforts, he told NBC's
Today programme on Monday, speaking from Manila.
Mr John Ging, director of operations at the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, said "many places are strewn with dead bodies" that need to be buried quickly to
prevent the outbreak of a public health disaster.
"We're sadly expecting the worst as we get more and more access," Mr Ging, speaking to reporters at the
United Nations in New York, said.
President Benigno Aquino declared a state of national calamity and deployed hundreds of soldiers in
Tacloban to quell looting. Tacloban's administration appeared to be in disarray as city and hospital workers
focused on saving their own families and securing food.
Nevertheless, relief supplies were getting into the city four days after Typhoon Haiyan turned the oncevibrant port of 220,000 into a corpse-choked wasteland.
Aid trucks from the airport struggled to enter because of the stream of people and vehicles leaving. On
motorbikes, trucks or by foot, people clogged the road to the airport, holding scarves to their faces to blot
out the stench of bodies.
Hundreds have left on cargo planes to the capital Manila or the second-biggest city of Cebu, with many
more sleeping rough overnight at the wrecked terminal building.
Reuters journalists travelled into the city on a government aid truck which was guarded by soldiers with
assault rifles."It's risky," said Jewel Ray Marcia, an army lieutenant. "People are angry. They are going out
of their minds."
RELIEF EFFORTS PICKING UP
International relief efforts have begun to accelerate, with dozens of countries and organisations pledging
tens of millions of dollars in aid.
Operations have been hampered because roads, airports and bridges were destroyed or covered in
wreckage by surging waves and winds of up to 378kmh.
About 660,000 people were displaced and many have no access to food, water or medicine, the UN said.
UN aid chief Valerie Amos, who is travelling to the Philippines, released US$25 million (S$31 million) for
aid relief on Monday from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund.
Ms Amos and the Philippines government are due to launch an appeal and action plan on Tuesday to deal
with the disaster.
Mr Aquino's declaration of a state of national calamity will allow the government to use state funds for
relief and to control prices. He said the government had set aside 18.7 billion pesos (S$537 million) for
rehabilitation.
Additional US military forces also arrived in the Philippines on Monday to bolster relief efforts, officials
said, with US military cargo planes transporting food, medical supplies and water for victims.
Other US aircraft were positioning to assist the Philippines, with US forces operating out of Villamor Air
Base in Manila and in Tacloban.
DEATH TOLL EXPECTED TO RISE
Rescuers have yet to reach remote parts of the coast, such as Guiuan, a town in eastern Samar province
with a population of 40,000 that was largely destroyed.
The typhoon also levelled Basey, a seaside town in Samar province about 10km across a bay from
Tacloban in Leyte province. About 2,000 people were missing in Basey, said the governor of Samar
province.
The damage to the coconut- and rice-growing region was expected to amount to more than 3 billion pesos,
Citi Research said in a report, with "massive losses" for private property.
Residents of Tacloban, 580km south-east of Manila, told terrifying accounts of being swept away by a wall
of water, revealing a city that had been hopelessly unprepared for a storm of Haiyan's power.
Most of the damage and deaths were caused by waves that inundated towns, washed ships ashore and
swept away villages in scenes reminiscent of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Ms Jean Mae Amande, 22, said she was washed several kilometres from her home by the surge of water.
The current ripped her out to sea before pushing her back to shore where she was able to cling to a tree and
grab a rope thrown from a boat.
An old man who had been swimming with her died when his neck was gashed by an iron roof, she said.
"It's a miracle that the ship was there," Ms Amande said.
Typhoon Haiyan: US aircraft carrier to arrive
for relief in 48-72 hrs
Published on Nov 12, 2013
7:25 AM
A US Navy F/A-18 aircraft takes off on the runway of the US Navy aircraft carrier USS George Washington, during a tour
of the ship in the South China Sea, Nov 7, 2013. US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the USS George Washington
aircraft carrier to head to the Philippines to support relief efforts and it should arrive in 48 to 72 hours, the Pentagon said on
Monday, confirming a Reuters report. -- FILE PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the USS George Washington
aircraft carrier to head to the Philippines to support relief efforts and it should arrive in 48 to 72 hours, the
Pentagon said on Monday, confirming a Reuters report.
A Pentagon statement said crew from the George Washington, which carries some 5,000 sailors and more
than 80 aircraft, were being recalled early from shore leave in Hong Kong and the ship was expected to be
under way in the coming hours.
Other US Navy ships would also head to the Philippines, it said.
Typhoon Haiyan: Britain sending warship to
aid Philippines relief efforts
Published on Nov 12, 2013
7:52 AM
LONDON (REUTERS) - Britain is sending a navy warship with equipment to make drinking water from
seawater and a military transport aircraft to help relief efforts in the Philippines, Prime Minister David
Cameron said on Monday.
He said HMS Daring would provide humanitarian assistance and flights from its onboard helicopter while
at least one Boeing C-17 military transport aircraft would be allocated to move humanitarian aid to areas
that are most in need and hardest to reach.
"HMS Daring, currently deployed near Singapore, will shortly be heading at full speed towards the disaster
zone with further support from an RAF (Royal Air Force) C-17 which will be a powerful help to the relief
operation," Mr Cameron told a dinner attended by business leaders in London.
HMS Daring is expected to reach the area in five days and the C-17 within the next few days. About 200
military personnel will be involved.
Britain has swiftly ratcheted up its response to the devastating Typhoon Haiyan that has killed an estimated
10,000 people, bringing its contribution since the disaster struck to 10 million pounds (S$12.5 million).
Britain's Department for International Development on Saturday pledged an initial 6 million pounds to
help get food, shelter and clean water to people in need.
Typhoon Haiyan: In wrecked chapel, 10
bodies, and a father's pain
Published on Nov 12, 2013
9:16 AM
Serving as a morgue, St. Michael The Archangel Chapel sits among debris from Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, central
Philippines, Tuesday, Nov 12, 2013. -- PHOTO: AP
TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) - There is no functioning morgue here, so people have been collecting the
dead from Typhoon Haiyan and storing them where they can - in this case, St. Michael The Archangel
Chapel.
Ten bodies have been placed on wooden pews and across a pale white floor slick with blood, debris and
water. One appears to have foamed at the mouth. One has been wrapped in a white sheet, tied to a thick
green bamboo pole so that people could carry it, and placed on the floor.
One body is small, and entirely covered in a red blanket.
"This is my son," says Nestor Librando, a red-eyed, 31-year-old carpenter. "He drowned."
Librando had taken refuge in a military compound nearby by the time the typhoon's storm surge poured in
on Friday morning.
For two hours, the water rose around him. He held his two-year-old son in one arm, his three-year-old son
in the other.
But the torrent proved too strong, and swept the family out of the building. The water rose above
Librando's head and he struggled to swim. His younger son slipped from his hands and was immediately
pulled under the water.
"I found his body later, behind the house" in the courtyard, sunken in the mud, he says.
"This is the worst thing I've ever seen in my life, the worst thing I could imagine," Librando says. "I
brought him to this chapel because there was nowhere else to take him. I wanted Jesus Christ to bless
him."
The chapel is close to the Tacloban airport, in an area where the storm felled and shredded a vast bank of
trees. The water moved with such force that light poles beside a dirt road are bent to the ground at right
angles.
At a lakeshore west of the airport terminal, three bodies lay among the rocks. A man, wearing blue shorts
and lying face down. A child with yellowed arms grasping skyward. A tiny baby, sprawled on its back.
More bodies lay along a muddy beach nearby. A dead man in jeans leans forward, his head in the water,
his back feet somehow perched frozen above the sand and mud behind. Beside him, a child in a diaper lays
partially covered by a palm frond, beside wood, debris and a green crate labeled San Miguel Brewery.
There are survivors here, too, including 22-year-old Junick de la Rea. He says the water swept him and
five of his relatives off a rooftop where they had fled, but they all survived by grabbing a bunch of plastic
and metal containers that happened to float by.
"Please, can you help me?" de la Rea asks a reporter. "I want you to send a message to a friend of mine," a
friend who works for the German Red Cross Union.
His message: "We survived. I want to say we survived. ... We lost everything. But we are still alive - and
we need help."
Typhoon Haiyan: Ship torn from moorings
by storm sinks off China
Published on Nov 11, 2013
6:57 PM

People cross a street against strong wind and heavy rainfall under the influence of Typhoon Haiyan, in Sanya, Hainan
province on Sunday, Nov 10, 2013. State media say Typhoon Haiyan's huge waves and heavy wind tore a ship from its
moorings in southern China and prevented rescue of the crew. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
BEIJING (AP) - State media say Typhoon Haiyan's huge waves and heavy wind tore a ship from its
moorings in southern China and prevented rescue of the crew.
The cargo ship moored on Hainan island was driven out to sea as the typhoon swept past Sunday. Attempts
to rescue the crew by ship, speed boat and helicopter were forced back.
The Xinhua News Agency said two bodies were found Monday. Five crew members are missing.
The typhoon hasn't caused major damage in China after the Philippines suffered mass destruction and
potentially thousands of deaths.
It made landfall in northern Vietnam on Monday.
00 feared dead in Somalia storm
Published on Nov 11, 2013
10:02 PM
MOGADISHU (AFP) - At least 100 people are feared dead in a ferocious storm battering Somalia's northeastern Puntland region, the local government said on Monday, warning that hundreds more are missing.
"A tropical cyclone storm (has) wreaked death and destruction...the storm brought high wind speeds and
torrential rains, causing flash floods," said a statement from Puntland's semi-autonomous government.
"Information collected from coastal areas via irregular telephone contact over the past 48 hours indicates
that up to 100 people might have been killed, while hundreds of other people remain unaccounted for," it
added.
The government is organising relief efforts, but also appealed for international support.
"Preliminary information also indicates that homes, buildings, boats and entire villages have been
destroyed and over 100,000 livestock lost, endangering the livelihood of tens of thousands of local
people," the government said.
Heavy rains and fierce winds are expected to continue until Wednesday, it added.
Impoverished Puntland, which forms the tip of the Horn of Africa, is run by its own government, although
unlike neighbouring Somaliland, it has not declared independence from Somalia.
The often lawless region is also home to numerous warlords, as well as for many years hosting pirate
gangs who raided far out into the Indian Ocean.
Somalia has been riven by civil war since the collapse of central government in 1991.
Typhoon Haiyan: Filipino expats in US seek
news after typhoon
Published on Nov 12, 2013
9:18 AM

This aerial photo taken from a Philippine Air Force helicopter shows the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban
city, Leyte province, central Philippines, Monday, Nov 11, 2013. Around the United States, Filipino expatriates scrambled to
find relatives trapped thousands of miles away and to send money and supplies. -- PHOTO: AP
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The last time Armi Go called her 81-year-old mother in the Philippine city of
Tacloban, the rain from the approaching typhoon was so loud they could barely hear each other.
Go, a 59-year-old sales clerk in Los Angeles, urged her mother to evacuate, but the elderly woman brushed
off Go's concerns and stayed. Now she's missing, along with Go's brother and sister, and thousands of
others caught in Friday's devastating typhoon. Since then, Go has been desperately calling any friend or
relative she can think of for news of her family - with no luck.
"I was up to 2 o'clock calling," she said. "We don't know, we don't have any news. We are so worried, we
don't know if she is alive or dead. We don't even know where she is."
Around the United States, Filipino expatriates like Go scrambled to find relatives trapped thousands of
miles away and to send money and supplies into an area where nearly all communication and
transportation were at a standstill. In Southern California, home to the largest community of Filipinos
outside the Philippines, fundraising efforts from 5K walks to church rummage sales attracted hundreds as
word spread about missing loved ones and harrowing tales of survival.
Many worried that their homeland would be permanently crippled by the typhoon, which came just weeks
after last month's 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Bohol that killed 198 people. The US Census listed more
than 322,000 Filipinos in Los Angeles County alone in 2010.
"The county just suffered a one-two punch. The United States can probably weather that kind of
devastation, but not the Philippines. It's just a poor country," said Bing de la Vega, who is organising relief
efforts through the nonprofit Philippine Emergency Disaster Relief Organisation.
"You can't help but get emotional when you see the magnitude of the devastation."
In New Jersey, expats gathered at Fiesta Grill, a Filipino restaurant in Jersey City, to watch a Philippine
news channel via satellite.
One woman dabbed her eyes as she took in the devastation. Others boxed up donations of clothes, shoes
and canned food at a direct shipping business to send to typhoon victims.
Adelia Ramos, 64, said she spent several days trying to reach family. She became emotional as she
recalled getting in touch with them late Sunday.
"They are now safe, they are back in our province," she said, breathing in sharply and waving away tears.
"But, the worries that they had, they couldn't get to our town, they had to walk for seven hours, and
sometimes over dead bodies."
A 5K run held on Sunday in Van Nuys, north of Los Angeles, raised US$7,000 (S$8,720) in four hours,
and another, larger, fundraiser was in the works for early December - maybe an invitation-only dinner at a
Los Angeles restaurant, de la Vega said.
Churches were also rushing to get donations together. The Filipino Disciples Christian Church in Los
Angeles raised $400 over the weekend between an impromptu rummage sale and a special offering at
Sunday's service. The 60-member church is continuing to collect goods for another rummage sale next
weekend.
"We're hoping to reach at least US$1,000," said pastor Einstein Cabalteja. "We're not really a big church
but we're doing our best to help."
In Pasadena, stay-at-home mother Lura Henderson juggled caring for three energetic daughters, ages 7, 5
and 1, and seeking out news of missing relatives.
Henderson, who came to the US 12 years ago, said her parents evacuated two days ahead of the storm with
her 16-year-old brother, who has cerebral palsy. They returned to find their home standing, but
Henderson's aunt and uncle remain missing. The family heard through word-of-mouth that the elderly
couple survived, but they lost their home and were living in a tent on the street.
Henderson is trying to figure out how to organise a search for her relatives and get them supplies and
money.
"There's no way to communicate with them. Somebody literally has to go to that island and search for
them," she said. "We're trying to do something, because the news says that people there have had not food
for four days now."
Typhoon Haiyan: Filipinos in US rally to
provide aid in wake of deadly typhoon
Published on Nov 12, 2013
9:37 AM
Survivors of super Typhoon Haiyan board a US military C-130 plane for Manila after the plane arrived carrying relief
supplies at Tacloban airport in the central Philippines on Nov 11, 2013. Filipinos across the United States rallied to support
aid efforts for their Pacific island homeland on Monday as rescue workers an ocean away struggled to reach remote areas of
the country that was ravaged by a deadly typhoon. -- PHOTO: AFP
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) - Filipinos across the United States rallied to support aid
efforts for their Pacific island homeland on Monday as rescue workers an ocean away struggled to reach
remote areas of the country that was ravaged by a deadly typhoon.
Many Filipino-Americans expressed appreciation for early efforts by the US government to respond to
Typhoon Haiyan, which killed at least 10,000 people and left 600,000 homeless.
The US government provided immediate support that included 55 tons of food, US$100,000 (S$124,000)
for water and sanitation support and the deployment of 90 Marines and sailors, but some FilipinoAmericans expressed concerns that foreign aid could be diverted by corrupt local officials.
In the New York City borough of Queens, where many businesses along a 15-block thoroughfare dubbed
"Little Manila" were planning charitable efforts for typhoon victims, the manager of Payag, a Filipino
restaurant, said its weekly fundraisers for victims of last month's deadly earthquake in the Philippines were
being expanded to assist typhoon survivors.
"We started these events on Nov 1 not realising soon after another calamity would occur," restaurant
manager Peter Obac said. "So now it's for earthquake and typhoon victims."
Anne Beryl Corotan, a New York-based campaign coordinator for the National Alliance for Filipino
Concerns, said her organization was working to send advance teams to the hard-hit areas of Samar and
Leyte.
Reflecting sentiments common in the Filipino-American community, Corotan applauded US government
relief efforts but said she hoped American officials would closely monitor disbursement of the aid.
"I would like to ensure that my taxes are going to appropriate provision of social services and not for
militarization, corruption and only to those who are powerful, landlords and big business owners," she said.
Philippines president Benigno Aquino came to office on a good governance and anti-corruption platform,
but corruption remains endemic in the Southeast Asia nation.
Efforts among Filipino-Americans to assist with typhoon relief extended across the country.
In San Francisco, the West Bay Pilipino Multi-Service Centre, a nonprofit that serves underprivileged
Filipino youth, stayed open overnight on Sunday to accept donations of food and medicine for victims of
the typhoon.
The centre collected about 700 pounds of canned food and medical supplies, said executive director Rudy
Asercion, a third generation Filipino-American.
Asercion said the supplies would be shipped this week to Cebu, where Catholic church-affiliated
volunteers would distribute them to typhoon victims in hard-hit places like the city of Tacloban.
Maria Hellen Barber De La Vega, consul general for the Philippines in Los Angeles, said that church and
volunteer-based relief efforts in southern California were well under way, including US$10,000 raised over
the weekend in part by a 5 kilometre fundraising walk on Sunday.
But she said the needs in the affected areas of central Philippines were nearly overwhelming.
"Right now we need medicines for cold and fever, food and water, but we really need treatment for bones.
Many were caught in trees and hurt by flying debris," she said. "The problem is access." Efforts to help
extended beyond the Filipino expatriate community.
At the US Conference of Catholic Bishops assembly in Baltimore on Monday, Bishop Gerald Kicanas,
chairman of the board of directors of US-based Catholic Relief Services, urged his colleagues to take up a
"second collection" from churches for relief efforts in the Philippines and Vietnam.
"We hope you can send those collections as soon as possible because the crisis is so imminent." Also
speaking at the assembly, CRS President Carolyn Woo said her group had pledged US$20 million in
typhoon aid that it has not yet raised.
"It's important for people to be buying supplies," she said, adding that her group hoped to help 100,000
affected families.
Philippines Airlines (PAL) also lent a hand, saying in a statement that it was offering space on its planes to
ship certain aid supplies to the country free of charge.