-
Australian Network News Updated Thu 7 Nov 2013, 3:26am AEDT
Typhoon Haiyan is intensifying as it continues to move across the northern Pacific, packing winds of up to 260 kilometres per hour and granting it 'super' status.
Forecaster Michael Ziobrol from the US National Weather Service says the typhoon is expected to affect parts of Micronesia later on Wednesday.
"It's going pretty quickly and it's going to go to Palau and south of Yap but there's a little island there with a few people called Nrulu and they're probably going to get the eye of the typhoon over them," he said.
The Palau National Emergency Management Office, NEMO, is advising the public to tune into local broadcasters for updates and to stock up on emergency supplies.
Palau's government offices and schools will remain shut until Friday.
Mr Ziobro says many of the islands in the path of the typhoon are low-lying areas.
"Some of these little islands are not very high above the ocean so some of the wave action would be higher than atolls," he said.
US National weather service in Guam are expecting seas of around 20 feet to wash the island.
They are estimating the typhoon will pass very close to the island Kayangel at around 2am local time.
So far, there have been no deaths but some damage has been reported.
Mr Ziobro says people on the Micronesian islands should not venture out to sea due to rough waters and strong winds.
"That's very dangerous at this point," he said.
"There was a little island, Woleai, we knew they had some damage.
We haven't heard anybody getting hurt or killed so that's been fortunate for now."
'Most dangerous storm'
Haiyan is expected to reach central Philippines as a super typhoon by Friday noon local time, packing winds of 233-249 kilometres per hour, according to Michael Ziobrol.
"If people are in the Philippines, they should start preparing too, especially the central Philippines," he said.
Dr Jeff Masters, a contributor to the weather blog Wunderground, says Haiyan will likely be the most dangerous tropical cyclone to affect the Philippines this year.
Many people in the Philippines have been expressing their concerns about the impending storm on social networking site Twitter.
The typhoon will be named Yolanda when it enters the Philippines.
The country is hit by some 20 typhoons each year.
Typhoon Nari pounded the archipelago's north last month, killing 13 people.
(http://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/images/full/2013/11/05/426330.jpg)
-
By Alexander Smith and Becky Bratu, NBC News
One of the strongest storms ever slammed into the Philippines early Friday, packing wind speeds so high that a weather expert said were poised to make it the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded at landfall.
"There will be catastrophic damage," Jeff Masters, a former hurricane meteorologist who is meteorology director at the private firm Weather Underground, told The Associated Press.
Typhoon Haiyan's maximum sustained winds were 195 mph, according to the U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Hawaii.
Thousands of villagers fled as the most powerful storm on the planet this year approached the Philippines on Thursday.
Haiyan was rated as a category-five storm early Thursday, according to Weather Channel lead meteorologist Michael Palmer.
He warned that the storm was likely to cause widespread devastation and "a significant loss of life."
“It’s a very poor country and there is not really any place for these people to go because they are on an island," Palmer added. “There was a similar typhoon that struck in 1990 which killed 700 people so you are going to see that here, maybe even worse.”
He added: “It is a perfectly symmetrical storm with the eye completely clear so it is as strong as you can get."
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said it was the strongest tropical cyclone in the world this year.
Areas in the path of the storm were already experiencing strong winds and heavy rains early Thursday and officials grounded ferry services, called in fishing boats and shut schools.
"I have issued a call to prepare for the worst," said Ben Evardone, a member of Congress representing Eastern Samar province, one of the areas likely to be hit.
Evacuations were ordered in some areas and the state weather bureau raised storm alerts on Samar and Leyte. Officials in a dozen other central provinces also began stockpiling food, water and other relief supplies.
Edgardo Chatto, the governor of Bohol Island province in the central Philippines, where an earthquake last month killed more than 200 people, said that soldiers, police and rescue units were helping displaced residents, including thousands still in small tents, move to shelters. The typhoon was not forecast to directly hit Bohol but the province was still expected to be battered by strong wind and rain, government forecaster Jori Loiz said.
Haiyan is expected to lose strength after leaving the Philippines and go on to hit Vietnam with wind speeds of up to 125 mph on Saturday and Sunday, Palmer said.
An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year. In 2011, typhoon Washi killed 1,200 people, displaced 300,000 and destroyed more than 10,000 homes.
Bopha, the strongest storm to hit last year, flattened three coastal towns on the southern island of Mindanao, killing 1,100 people and destroying crops, property and infrastructure worth $1 billion.
This story was originally published on Thu Nov 7, 2013 5:16 PM EST
***************************************
To watch videos, click http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/07/21344788-super-typhoon-haiyan-slams-philippines-significant-loss-of-life-predicted (http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/07/21344788-super-typhoon-haiyan-slams-philippines-significant-loss-of-life-predicted)
-
BBC News > Asia 8 November 2013 Last updated at 01:22 GMT
Typhoon Haiyan, the world's strongest storm of the year, has made landfall in the Philippines with winds of up to 235 km/h (146mph).
The category-five storm was centred 62 km south-east of Guiuan, in the country's Eastern Samar province, the national weather service said.
Schools and offices have been closed in the path of the storm, and thousands evacuated amid fears of serious damage.
The region was already struggling to recover from an earthquake last month.
The governor of the Southern Leyte province, Roger Mercado, tweeted on Friday morning that fallen trees were blocking roads, hampering the relief effort.
The storm is not expected to directly hit the capital Manila, further north.
"We can feel the powerful winds, our school is now packed with evacuees," a teacher in Southern Leyte province told a local radio station.
Jeff Masters, meteorology director at the private firm Weather Underground, told the Associated Press news agency there would be "catastrophic damage".
Another meteorologist, Eric Holthaus, said in a tweet that it could prove the "strongest landfall in history".
Relief packages
The typhoon, known locally as Yolanda, arrived with a gustiness of up to 275 km/h, the Philippines' weather service said in its bulletin, issued at 05:00 local time (21:00 GMT).
State meteorologist Romeo Cajulis told AFP news agency it had made landfall over Guiuan at 04:40.
Authorities in Guiuan could not immediately be reached for word of any deaths or damage, regional civil defence chief Rey Gozon said.
Forecaster Mario Palafox with the national weather bureau said it had lost contact with its staff in the landfall area.
It is forecast to move over to the South China Sea north of Palawan Island on Saturday, meteorologists say.
In its path are areas already struggling to recover from a 7.3-magnitude earthquake last month, including the worst-hit island of Bohol.
About 5,000 people are still living in tents in Bohol after losing their homes in the quake, which killed more than 200 people.
The military says it is transporting food packages and relief goods to remote communities, and has helicopters on stand-by. Ferry operations have already been suspended and fishing boats ordered back to port.
Thousands of people from villages at risk across several provinces have been evacuated, while schools and offices have shut.
Billboards were taken down in Makati, near Manila, ahead of the storm.
Thousands of people were evacuated from villages in the central Philippines before the arrival of the storm.
The president ordered officials to aim for zero casualties, a goal not often met in an archipelago lashed by at least 20 tropical storms each year.
President Benigno Aquino warned people to leave storm-prone areas and urged seafarers to stay in port.
He reassured the public that cargo planes and military helicopters were on standby, along with 20 navy ships.
"No typhoon can bring Filipinos to their knees if we'll be united," he said in a televised address.
Ben Evardone, a member of Congress from Eastern Samar, said earlier he had "issued a call to prepare for the worst".
Meteorologists in the Philippines warned that Haiyan could be as devastating as Typhoon Bopha in 2012.
Bopha devastated parts of the southern Philippines, leaving at least 1,000 people dead and causing more than $1bn (£620m) in damage.
"This is a very dangerous typhoon, local officials know where the vulnerable areas are and have given instructions on evacuations," state weather forecaster Glaiza Escullar told AFP.
"There are not too many mountains on its path to deflect the force of impact, making it more dangerous."
It is the 25th typhoon to enter Philippine territory this year.
Do you live in the Philippines? Are you experiencing Typhoon Haiyan? Send us details of your experiences using the form below.
Send your pictures and videos to [email protected] or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here. Click http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24846813# (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24846813#)
-
Australia Network News Shirley Escalante in Manila and staff Updated 35 minutes ago
The Philippines is being pounded by Super Typhoon Haiyan, the most powerful storm on the planet in 30 years!
Haiyan was recorded packing winds of up to 314 kilometres an hour as it made landfall earlier today.
Television pictures already reveal widespread damage to parts of the central Philippines and authorities are warning of floods and landslides.
Ten million people are estimated to be in the path of the typhoon, and half-a-million people have already been evacuated.
The head of the Philippines Red Cross, Gwendolyn Pang, has told Asia Pacific even those who've sought emergency shelter are still at risk.
"Even people in evacuation centres - we are not quite sure if they're safe because the wind is very strong," she said.
"We have seen in the previous disasters - especially typhoons - still evacuation centres are not really safe for the people.
"We're trying our best to continue to monitor the situation...but it's so huge - so big."
Ms Pang says the wind is making any aid efforts difficult.
"The challenge now is how are we going to continue to support the people in the next few hours or days because...our the wind is very strong and our activities are very limited at the moment," she said.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) says Super Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, made landfall at 4.40am local time over Guiuan, Eastern Samar in Philippines.
Authorities say the typhoon could cause major damage across a vast area of the central and southern Philippines.
"This is a very dangerous typhoon," state weather forecaster Glaiza Escullar said.
"There are not too many mountains on its path to deflect the force of impact, making it more dangerous.
"Local officials know where the vulnerable areas are and have given instructions on evacuations."
In Bohol province, 5,000 people living in tents after they lost their homes in a magnitude 7.2 earthquake last month have been moved to temporary shelters.
At least 1,000 people on an island off Masbate province have been marooned by stormy weather and large waves reaching seven meters high.
Schools in the capital Manila have been closed and university classes cancelled.
President Benigno Aquino has appeared on national television to warn the people of floods and landslides
Sea travel and flights have been suspended, and schools have been closed in the central region.
An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year.
A 'super typhoon' is one in which the wind speeds are twice as powerful as the point at which a storm becomes a typhoon.
Bopha, last year's strongest storm, flattened three coastal towns on the southern island of Mindanao, killing 1,100 people.
Typhoon Haiyan pounded Palau and parts of Micronesia early Thursday morning, destroying homes and forcing the evacuation of a remote island in Palau.
***************************
To watch video, click http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-08/an-worlds-most-powerful-typhoon-makes-landfall-in-philippines/5078216 (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-08/an-worlds-most-powerful-typhoon-makes-landfall-in-philippines/5078216)
-
NTnews DAVID WOOD | November 8th, 2013
A DARWIN couple holidaying in the Philippines were among millions bracing for super typhoon 'Haiyan'.
Authorities warned yesterday Typhoon Haiyan, with wind gusts above 330km/h, could cause major damage across a vast area of the central and southern Philippines when it makes landfall.
Darwinites Jeremy Kay and Georgina Nefiodovas are stuck on the island of Boracay in the central region, which could be within range of getting hit directly.
Mr Kay and Ms Nefiodovas said they got to the island on the weekend and had not been able to get off in time.
"At the moment we are unable to leave Boracay as they have stopped all boats leaving the island," Jeremy told the NT News.
"This means for the next few days we will be staying here bracing ourselves for the weather to come.
"The wind is slowly picking up and there are more and more clouds gathering around but at the moment still no wild weather.
"The locals here have started to board everything up and cut a few branches down along the beach.
"So we caught a taxi to the ferry but unfortunately they only had limited boats to go and far too many people wanting to leave so we weren't able to get across."
LIVE Typhoon Haiyan coverage http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/super-typhoon-haiyan-gaining-strength-set-to-hit-philippines/story-fni0xs61-1226755411772?from=trendinglinks (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/super-typhoon-haiyan-gaining-strength-set-to-hit-philippines/story-fni0xs61-1226755411772?from=trendinglinks)
DO YOU have friends or family in the typhoon's path? Tell us
State weather forecaster Glaiza Escullar said: "This is a very dangerous typhoon, local officials know where the vulnerable areas are and have given instructions on evacuations.
"There are not too many mountains on its path to deflect the force of impact, making it more dangerous."
Haiyan had maximum sustained winds yesterday morning of 278km/h, and gusts of 333km/h, according to the US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Centre.
Today at 6.30am local time, iCyclone posted: "Gusts getting violent... flying tin and branches. Some gusts have an unearthly, feminine howl that gives me the creeps. 974.6 mb and falling. Might be my last update."
The Philippines is battered by an average of 20 major storms or typhoons each year, many of them deadly, but Haiyan's wind strength would make it the strongest for 2013.
The state weather service also warned the typhoon was continuing to intensify.
Mr Escullar said the typhoon, which was advancing with a giant, 600km front, was expected to hit areas still recovering from a deadly 2011 storm and a 7.1-magnitude quake last month.
They include the central island of Bohol, the epicentre of the earthquake that killed more than 200 people.
************************************
To read more, click http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2013/11/08/327127_ntnews.html (http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2013/11/08/327127_ntnews.html)
-
November 08, 2013@1634H by: Staff writer From: AFP
WITH the first deaths confirmed as super typhoon Haiyan smashes through the Philippines, locals and tourists alike are desperately trying to stay out of danger.
Two people were killed in Cotabato province - an adult and a one-year-old - and a woman was fatally hit by a falling tree in Cebu, officials said.
With wind and rain lashing towns and resorts across the nation, Australian visitors are among the millions seeking shelter.
Sydney man Mark Denning told News Corp he and his wife were bunkered down in their hotel room on the tourist island of Boracay as the storm approached.
Mr Denning, who attended his younger brother's wedding on the island yesterday, said beaches were deserted and tourists had retreated to the safety of their hotels. He said the storm had not made landfall on the island, but it was already being battered by strong winds and heavy rain. Read his story in the blog below.
Haiyan, which is also being referred to as Yolanda by Philippines meteorologists, has been dubbed the strongest storm in history - certainly for three decades - by some experts.
It first bowled into fishing communities on the central island of Samar, about 600km southeast of Manila, earlier today with maximum sustained winds of 315km/h an hour. It is cutting across the central and southern Philippines and is expected to exit into the South China Sea then move on towards Vietnam late on Saturday.
Authorities warned more than 12 million people were at risk from the typhoon. Its wind strength makes it equivalent to an exceptionally strong Category 5 hurricane.
Follow all the latest in our rolling coverage below: Click http://www.news.com.au/world/super-typhoon-haiyan-gaining-strength-set-to-hit-philippines/story-fndir2ev-1226755411772 (http://www.news.com.au/world/super-typhoon-haiyan-gaining-strength-set-to-hit-philippines/story-fndir2ev-1226755411772)
-
Extremely destructive earthquake & typhoon in Philippines – Bohol, Cebu: At least 222 people killed, 8 missing, around 1000 injured, around 4 billion PHP damage, 7 billion PHP reconstruction costs – Typhoon RED ALERT
Last update: November 8, 2013 at 5:51 am by By Armand Vervaeck and James Daniell
Update 08.10.2013 05:50 UTC:
- PAGASA has released their 7th update with additional locations in Luzon and Mindanao now predicted to experience very strong winds.
Update 08.10.2013 05:30 UTC:
- No news from Bohol currently. Strong winds are expected there currently more in the north than the south so we hope that the damage will be as little as possible, and that no casualties occur.
- Landslides are a major concern with the amount of rain.
Update 08.10.2013 05:20 UTC:
- Destroyed houses have been reported from Surigao del Norte
- 17 million people affected.
- 5 deaths reported on Cebu, Surigao, Cotabato and other locations.
- Expected catastrophic damage and storm surges from 3-5m.
Update 08.10.2013 04:50 UTC:
- Using the current modelled path – 17.1 million people will be affected.
- This has approximately $127 billion USD capital stock (current).
- Based on historic Philippines events to create loss ratios – the economic cost of the disaster may be around $1.5-3.5 billion (over 50 billion PHP) (this would be one of the largest disasters ever and be a significant impact). This is of course a very initial estimate, and may differ greatly from the final loss (given that very little is known of the damage currently).
Update 08.10.2013 04:00 UTC:
- Webcam links posted are now down.
- There is extensive damage in many locations unfortunately – some of this is seen in the following video from Tacloban http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1057828 (http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1057828) .
Update 08.10.2013 03:30 UTC:
- Many trees uprooted, and there is as expected damage that is unquantifiable currently.
- Many families displaced, 3 dead, 25 million expected to be affected.
- Nearly all roofs have been ripped off in Daanbantayan. Cars and motorcycles were also dragged down streets in the storm.
- A way to view the typhoon is through the following link at Bolabog Bay http://www.earthcam.com/world/philippines/boracay/bolabogbay/ (http://www.earthcam.com/world/philippines/boracay/bolabogbay/) .
Update 08.10.2013 02:30 UTC:
- As expected, many trees have been knocked over on Southern Leyte meaning that road transport is not possible in many locations, however no fatalities have been registered.
- 8 airports are affected.
- We are not sure when the livecams will go down – but here is one from Boracay, a popular tourist destination at Aklan http://www.earthcam.com/search/ft_search.php?term=Cebu%2C+PHILIPPINES (http://www.earthcam.com/search/ft_search.php?term=Cebu%2C+PHILIPPINES) .
Update 08.10.2013 02:00 UTC:
- The path looks like it will take out most of the tourist destinations with Cebu also being affected now.
- Approximately 5m storm surge.
- Major destruction likely and even storm shelters probably will not withstand it.
- The only good news is that Bohol will be spared the direct path – however the latest prediction is a lot wider than 80km for the severe damage (4) rating of NDRRMC – 10 locations including Cebu City which had earthquake damage have been added.
http://www.ndrrmc.gov.ph/attachments/article/1125/Update%20Sitrep%20No.5%20Effects%20of%20TY%20YOLANDA%206AM.pdf (http://www.ndrrmc.gov.ph/attachments/article/1125/Update%20Sitrep%20No.5%20Effects%20of%20TY%20YOLANDA%206AM.pdf)
- 1st fatality has been registered in Surigao.
To watch videos and view photos, click http://earthquake-report.com/2013/10/15/very-strong-earthquake-mindanao-philippines-on-october-15-2013/ (http://earthquake-report.com/2013/10/15/very-strong-earthquake-mindanao-philippines-on-october-15-2013/)
-
Quote from: juan on July 08, 2009, 06:25:07 PM
"nothing happens by chance; everything's part of some Greater Design"
***************************************************************************
-
The world's strongest storm of the year is making its way across the central Philippines, causing widespread damage and forcing millions of people to flee to safer ground.
Super Typhoon Haiyan smashed into the central island of Samar early on Friday morning, packing sustained winds of up to 315 kilometres per hour.
At least three people have been killed and seven injured, the government said.
Communications and power are down in several provinces, and authorities are still trying to make contact with some of the worst-hit areas.
There's particular concern about the city of Guiuan, with a population of 47,000, which was the first in line when Haiyan made landfall.
The typhoon has brought down power lines and trees, and destroyed crops, buildings and houses.
Amateur video has shown flooded streets caused both by heavy rain and a storm surge that was predicted to be as high as to seven metres.
Sea travel and flights have been suspended, and schools have been closed in the central region.
Rescue agencies say they are struggling to assess the full extent of the damage as the storm continues to batter the country.
The head of the Philippines Red Cross, Gwendolyn Pang, has told Asia Pacific even those who have sought emergency shelter are still at risk.
"Even people in evacuation centres - we are not quite sure if they're safe because the wind is very strong," she said.
"We have seen in the previous disasters - especially typhoons - still evacuation centres are not really safe for the people.
"We're trying our best to continue to monitor the situation...but it's so huge - so big."
Ms Pang says the wind is making any aid efforts difficult.
"The challenge now is how are we going to continue to support the people in the next few hours or days because...our the wind is very strong and our activities are very limited at the moment," she said.
(http://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/images/full/2013/11/08/427276.jpg)
(http://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/images/full/2013/11/08/427279.jpg)
(http://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/images/full/2013/11/08/427277.jpg)
-
S h o c k i n g !!
-
Super gyud.. but thankful na safe atong mga families in Bohol, murag nilabay lang xa.. Still blessed!
-
imagin na world's super typhoon this year? kakatakot talaga!
-
sinabi mo pa..
-
Shocking as in
-
nakita ko ang video sa Tacloban ba yun? so grabeh naman the winds and the baha so quickly
-
BBC News > Asia 8 November 2013 Last updated at 20:22 GMT
One of the strongest typhoons ever to hit land has slammed the Philippines, forcing millions to take shelter.
Packing sustained winds of up to 320 km/h (199mph), Typhoon Haiyan left at least four people dead, but it may be days before the full damage is known.
The storm ripped apart buildings and triggered landslides as it ploughed across the country's central islands.
Officials said more than 12 million people were at risk, but the storm's rapid passing could limit its impact.
"We expect the level of destruction caused by Typhoon Haiyan to be extensive and devastating, and sadly we fear that many lives will be lost," said Save the Children's Philippines director Anna Lindenfors.
Eduardo del Rosario, head of the disaster response agency, told the Associated Press that early evacuations and the speed at which the typhoon swept across the Philippines, may have helped reduce its destructive potential.
Lt Gen Roy Deveraturda, a military commander, echoed this view, telling the AP: "It has helped that the typhoon blew very fast in terms of preventing lots of casualties."
Meteorologists had earlier warned that the storm could be as devastating as Typhoon Bopha in 2012, which ravaged parts of the southern Philippines and left at least 1,000 people dead.
Haiyan - equivalent to a category five hurricane - is now heading towards Vietnam and southern China.
The storm made landfall on the Philippines shortly before dawn, bringing gusts that reached 379 km/h (235 mph), waves as high as 15m (45ft) and up to 400mm (15.75 inches) of rain in places.
There were reports of buildings being ripped apart, flash floods and landslides. Schools and offices were closed, while ferry services and local flights were suspended. Hospitals and soldiers were on stand-by for rescue and relief operations.
Power and communication lines were also cut to some areas.
Haiyan raged across Leyte and Samar, turning roads into rivers, and battered Cebu city, the country's second largest with a population of 2.5 million.
The eye of the storm - known locally as Yolanda - passed well to the south of the capital Manila, but the city still felt its force.
"The wind here is whistling. It's so strong and the heavy downpours are continuing," Mai Zamora, from the charity World Vision, in Cebu, told the BBC.
"We've been hearing from my colleagues in [the city of] Tacloban that they've seen galvanised iron sheets flying just like kites."
"It was frightening. The wind was so strong, it was so loud, like a screaming woman. I could see trees being toppled down," Liwayway Sabuco, a saleswoman from Catbalogan, a major city on Samar, told AFP news agency.
Former BBC Manila correspondent Kate McGeown says that while reports are now coming in from some of the affected cities, there was still very little information from the countryside in large areas of the Visayas region such as Negros and Iloilo, and the island of Mindoro.
There were reports of substantial damage even in areas that missed the worst of Haiyan, the 25th tropical storm to enter Philippine territory this year.
"The storm was very strong - although Surigao City was not directly hit we experienced its fury early this morning," said Protestant pastor Diosdado Casera in Surigao City in north-east Mindanao .
"The big buildings made of concrete were fine, but the houses made of wood and shingles and plywood have suffered a lot of damage, mainly to their roof."
A spokesperson for the British Red Cross, Nichola Jones, who is in Tagbilaran on the central island of Bohol, said the typhoon had cut power and torn off roof tiles, but was "not too bad".
"But I think to the north - that's the area that has borne the brunt. Those were the areas worst hit by the earthquake last month."
"In Cebu they have had quite a battering and I spoke to our colleagues and they've had quite strong winds and are locked down in their hotels. They are waiting to see what the situation is."
Jeff Masters, meteorology director at the private firm Weather Underground, said in a blog post that the damage from Haiyan's winds must have been "perhaps the greatest wind damage any city on Earth has endured from a tropical cyclone in the past century".
Our correspondent says that, while the country is better prepared than for previous storms, it is not clear whether even buildings being used as storm shelters can withstand these winds.
In its path are areas already struggling to recover from a deadly 7.3-magnitude earthquake last month, including the worst-hit island of Bohol where about 5,000 people are still living in tents.
Do you live in the Philippines? Are you experiencing Typhoon Haiyan? Send us details of your experiences using the form below.
Send your pictures and videos to [email protected] or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
Click http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24846813 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24846813) to view pics and watch videos.
-
Sydney Morning Herald - 35 minutes ago
Click http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/death-toll-rises-in-philippines-as-super-typhoon-haiyan-wreaks-havoc-20131108-2x5bk.html (http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/death-toll-rises-in-philippines-as-super-typhoon-haiyan-wreaks-havoc-20131108-2x5bk.html) for updates and to view photos and watch videos.
-
Click http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/08/typhoon-haiyan-hits-philippines-live-updates (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/08/typhoon-haiyan-hits-philippines-live-updates)
-
dangerous though passing only
-
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
- Ecclesiastes, 3. 1 :)
-
Vaguely remember while still living in Manila. It was a bright and sunny morning. Then, about lunchtime, it occurred for no more than 5 minutes. After that, it was bright and sunny again. But many rooftops were blown away. Yeah, the Philippine weather has often been unpredictable. :)
-
Rappler by Dean Antonio La Vina and Dr. Kristoffer Berse Posted on 10/20/2013 5:08 PM | Updated 10/21/2013 1:30 PM
Rappler by Dean Antonio La Vina and Dr. Kristoffer Berse Posted on 10/20/2013 5:08 PM | Updated 10/21/2013 1:30 PM
In the end, it is up to all Boholanos kababayans back home to own or not a new path of development, one that will keep them, their loved ones and their investments safe from the ravages of nature. – Rappler.com
***************************************************************************
Quote from: juan on October 18, 2013, 12:36:05 PM
Be proactive! Forego crab mentality! Synergize!
:) ;)
***************************************************************************
"Times of great calamity and confusion have been productive for the greatest minds.
The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace.
The brightest thunder-bolt is elicited from the darkest storm.
(Charles Caleb Colton)"
:) ;)
-
no to super typhoon and EQ
-
sana wala ng iba pang sakuna..
-
sana nga..
-
Commercial break muna! Hehehe
:) ;)
Sacrifice sale -- Inheritance Settlement
# 6 Dove St., Isabel Village, Palao, Iligan City, Philippines
Inspect to appreciate
Contact Mr. Jose Y. Tan in the same address.
It's a steal!!!!!
Paging Mr. Jose Y. Tan!!!!!
Is your address still # 6 Dove St., Isabel Village, Palao, Iligan City, Philippines?
:-\ :-\ :-\ :-\ :-\
Attention: Bargain hunters!!!!!
Choiced commercial property located at
Cor. Echiverri & Zamora Sts.,
Iligan City, 9200 Philippines.
Contact Ms. Emelita Lee in the same address.
Make an offer
Emy,
Please tell my brother to send me copies of sales docs of family properties sold so I can calculate my rightful share of the inheritance.
Make him understand that, if he refuses, his behaviour and action will be tantamount to robbery.
Understand that harbouring a thief is a crime.
-
Yolanda.
Why are hurricanes usually named after women?
Because when they arrive, they're wet and wild, but when they go, they take your house and car.
;D ;)
Haiyan.
Reminds me when Mactan Airport was still a US airbase.
Pinays: Hi Joe!
Yankee: Haiyan girls!
Hayang lang sad dayon ang mga girls. ;D ;)
-
Kaloka!
-
grabe talaga ung bagyo .. napanood ko sa mga news .. grabeh
-
Ggrrr.. .
-
kita ka sa balita brad? grabeha noh? ang Tacloban gusto na mag declare ug Martial Law kay ang mga tawo didto nangabri na ug mga establishments para lang makakuha ng mga pwede paginteresan like foods and drinks..
-
Naa na pud coming baygo. Eastern Mindanao ang 1st padulong na pud central visayas.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/74516/pagasa-spots-new-lpa-nearing-mindanao-is-that-you-zoraida
Sent from my GT-S5360 using Tapatalk 2
-
Last 4 Dec, Bopha claimed 1K lives. Now, Yolanda claimed 10K lives. She's heading towards Vietnam. But 600K are already evacuated away from her direction.
Something similar should have been done in the Philippines. After all, it's been warned days before hand.
But, ..... As the late Pres. Marcos said, "Para sa ika-uunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang kailangan". ::)
Simon Tisdall guardian.co.uk, Sunday 17 February 2013 16.27 GMT
Philippines is having to adapt and adjust to rapidly deteriorating climatic trends at a great cost to its economy
When super-typhoon Bopha struck without warning before dawn, flattening the walls of their home, Maria Amparo Jenobiagon, her two daughters and her grandchildren ran for their lives.
The storm on 4 December was the worst ever to hit the southern Philippines: torrential rain turned New Bataan's river into a raging flood. Roads were washed away and the bridge turned into an enormous dam. Tens of thousands of coconut trees crashed down in an instant as unbelievably powerful winds struck. The banana crop was destroyed in a flash – and with it the livelihoods of hundreds of farmers.
The only safe place the family could think of was the concrete grandstand at the village sports stadium. Two months later, Jenobiagon, 36, and her three-year-old granddaughter, Mary Aieshe, are still there, living in one of the improvised tents spanning its steep concrete tiers along with hundreds of other people.
"We were terrified. All we could hear was loud crashing. We didn't know what to do. So we came here," Jenobiagon said. "Everyone ran to the health centre but houses were being swept away and the water was neck deep. Everywhere we went was full of mud and water. We went to a school but it was flooded, so we came to the stadium."
Lorenzo Balbin, the mayor of New Bataan, said the fury of the storm was far beyond the experience of anyone living in Mindanao. It would take 10 years to replace the coconut crop, he said. Some villages in Compostela Valley may be too unsafe to live in.
Bopha, known locally as Pablo, broke records as well as hearts. At its height, it produced wind speeds of 160mph, gusting to 195mph. It was the world's deadliest typhoon in 2012, killing 1,067 people, with 800 left missing. More than 6.2 million people were affected; the cost of the damage may top $1bn. As a category 5 storm (the highest), Bopha was significantly more powerful than hurricane Katrina (category 3), which hit the US in 2005, and last year's heavily publicised hurricane Sandy (category 2).
With an estimated 216,000 houses destroyed or damaged, tens of thousands of people remain displaced, presenting a challenge for the government and aid agencies.
The lack of international media coverage of Bopha may in part be explained – though not excused – by western-centric news values, and in part by the high incidence of storms in the Pacific region.
The Philippines experiences an average of 20 typhoons a year (including three super-typhoons) plus numerous incidents of flooding, drought, earthquakes and tremors and occasional volcanic eruptions, making it one of the most naturally disaster-prone countries in the world.
But more disturbing than Bopha's size was the fact that it appeared to reflect rapidly deteriorating climatic trends.
The five most devastating typhoons recorded in the Philippines have occurred since 1990, affecting 23 million people. Four of the costliest typhoons anywhere occurred in same period, according to an Oxfam report. What is more, Bopha hit an area where typhoons are all but unknown.
The inter-governmental panel on climate change says mean temperatures in the Philippines are rising by 0.14C per decade. Since the 1980s, there has been an increase in annual mean rainfall. Yet two of the severest droughts ever recorded occurred in 1991-92 and 1997-98.
Scientists are also registering steadily rising sea levels around the Philippines, and a falling water table. All this appears to increase the likelihood and incidence of extreme weather events while adversely affecting food production and yields through land erosion and degradation, analysts say.
Mary Ann Lucille Sering, head of the Philippine government's climate change commission, is in no doubt her country faces a deepening crisis that it can ill afford, financially and in human terms. Typhoon-related costs in 2009, the year the commission was created, amounted to 2.9% of GDP, she said, and have been rising each year since then.
"Extreme weather is becoming more frequent, you could even call it the new normal," Sering said. "Last year one typhoon [Bopha] hurt us very much. If this continues we are looking at a big drain on resources." Human activity-related "slow onset impacts" included over-fishing, over-dependence on certain crops, over-extraction of ground water, and an expanding population (the Philippines has about 95 million people and a median age of 23).
"Altogether this could eventually lead to disaster," Sering said. Unlike countries such as Britain, where changing weather has a marginal impact on most people's lives, climate change in the Philippines was "like a war". Opinion surveys showed that Filipinos rated global warming as a bigger threat than rising food and fuel prices, she said.
Even given this level of awareness, Bopha presented an enormous test for emergency services. Oxfam workers in Davao City, working with the UN, local NGO partners, and the government's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), quickly moved to the area to offer assistance. Oxfam has committed $2m in Bopha relief funds on top of its annual $4m Philippines budget. But the UN-co-ordinated Bopha Action Plan, which set an emergency funding target of $76m, has received only $27m so far.
The overall post-Bopha response has comprised three phases: immediate help, including the provision of shelter and clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities; rebuilding and relocation; and mitigation and prevention measures.
"The first thing was to provide water bladders to the evacuation centre in New Bataan. We concentrated on providing emergency toilets and water systems," said Kevin Lee, response manager for the Humanitarian Response Consortium, a group of five local NGOs. "We had a 15-strong team from Oxfam and the HRC, digging holes and putting in plastic pipes. Next we started looking at emergency food and shelter.
"The devastation was worse than anything I have ever seen. Up to 90% of the coconut trees were just flattened. That's the local economy on the ground. And that's really difficult to fix quickly," Lee said. But his team's swift action had positive results, he added. There have been no water-borne diseases in New Bataan and no outbreak of cholera.
The consortium has now moved on to longer-term projects such as building a waste management plant, setting up markets at relocation sites, and working on disaster risk reduction programmes, so that when the next typhoon hits, local people may be better prepared.
The Lumbia resettlement project outside Cagayan de Oro, in northern Mindanao, provides an example of what can be achieved. Here, victims of tropical storm Washi, which swept through the area in 2011, killing 1,200 people and causing nearly $50m in damage, have been offered newly-built homes on land owned by the local university.
The Lumbia project's slogan is "build a community, not just homes", and it has gone down well with displaced villagers. "It's better here than before. It's more elevated, we don't have to worry about floods," said Alexie Colibano, a Lumbia resident. "Before we were living on an island in the river. Now we feel more secure."
About 15,000 Bopha victims remain in evacuation centres, including in the New Bataan stadium grandstand. In total, about 200,000 are still living with friends or relatives.
In Manila, meanwhile, Benito Ramos, the outgoing executive director of the NDRRMC, is busy planning for the next super-typhoon. "We are preparing for a national summit this month on how to prepare, including early warning, building codes, land use regulations, geo-hazard mapping, relocation and livelihoods," he said.
But the bigger issue is climate change, which posed an "existential threat" to the Philippines, Ramos said. "We are mainstreaming climate change in all government departments and policies. If we don't adapt and adjust, we all agree we are heading for disaster."
************************************
To read further, click http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/17/filipino-super-typhoon-climate-change (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/17/filipino-super-typhoon-climate-change)
Rappler by Dean Antonio La Vina and Dr. Kristoffer Berse Posted on 10/20/2013 5:08 PM | Updated 10/21/2013 1:30 PM
Rappler by Dean Antonio La Vina and Dr. Kristoffer Berse Posted on 10/20/2013 5:08 PM | Updated 10/21/2013 1:30 PM
In the end, it is up to all Boholanos kababayans back home to own or not a new path of development, one that will keep them, their loved ones and their investments safe from the ravages of nature. – Rappler.com
***************************************************************************
Quote from: juan on October 18, 2013, 12:36:05 PM
Be proactive! Forego crab mentality! Synergize!
:) ;)
***************************************************************************
Fatalistic attitude like “Mag-ampo na lang ta!’ will get one nowhere. As a teacher/priest in a grade school religion class said, “Even if you pray 1 million “Our Father” you won’t pass the exam. Yes, prayer helps. But it certainly is no substitute for studying”. :) ;)
-
Naa na pud coming baygo. Eastern Mindanao ang 1st padulong na pud central visayas.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/74516/pagasa-spots-new-lpa-nearing-mindanao-is-that-you-zoraida (http://www.interaksyon.com/article/74516/pagasa-spots-new-lpa-nearing-mindanao-is-that-you-zoraida)
Sent from my GT-S5360 using Tapatalk 2
Here we go again!!!!!
::) ::) ::) ::) ::)
-
The New York Times By KEITH BRADSHER Published: November 10, 2013
CEBU, Philippines — Three days after one of the most powerful storms ever to buffet the Philippines, the scale of the devastation and the desperation of the survivors were slowly coming into view.
The living told stories of the dead or dying — the people swept away in a torrent of seawater, the corpses strewn among the wreckage. Photos from the hard-hit city of Tacloban showed vast stretches of land swept clean of homes, and reports emerged of people who were desperate for food and water raiding aid convoys and stripping the stores that were left standing.
As Monday dawned, it became increasingly clear that Typhoon Haiyan had ravaged cities, towns and fishing villages when it played a deadly form of hopscotch across the islands of the central Philippines on Friday. By some estimates, at least 10,000 people may have died in Tacloban alone, and with phone service out across stretches of the far-flung archipelago, it was difficult to know if the storm was as deadly in more remote areas.
Barreling across palm-fringed beaches and plowing into frail homes with a force that by some estimates approached that of a tornado, Haiyan delivered a crippling blow to this country’s midsection. The culprit increasingly appeared to be a storm surge that was driven by those winds, which were believed to be among the strongest ever recorded in the Philippines, lifting a wall of water onto the land as they struck. By some accounts, the winds reached 190 miles an hour.
As aid crews struggled to reach ravaged areas, the storm appeared to lay bare some of the perennial woes of the Philippines. The country’s roads and airports, long starved of money by corrupt and incompetent governments, are some of the worst in Southeast Asia and often make traveling long distances a trial. On Monday, clogged with debris from splintered buildings and shattered trees, the roads in the storm’s path were worse, slowing rescue teams.
Richard Gordon, the chairman of the Philippines Red Cross, said that a Red Cross aid convoy to Tacloban had to turn back on Sunday after it stopped at a collapsed bridge and was nearly hijacked by a crowd of hungry people. “There is very little food going in, and what food there was, was captured” by the crowd, Mr. Gordon said in a telephone interview on Monday morning.
The storm posed new challenges for President Benigno S. Aquino III, who just two months ago struggled to wrest back a major city in the south from insurgents. Mr. Aquino has won plaudits at home and abroad for his fight against corruption during his three and a half years in office, leading to increased foreign investment and an impressive growth rate. But he must still contend with Muslim separatists in the south and with provinces that have long been the fiefdoms of regional strongmen, resistant to government control.
Now add to that list a storm that looks to be one of the country’s worst natural disasters, at a time when emergency funds have been depleted by a series of other calamities, most notably an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 that struck the middle of the country four weeks ago. On Monday, after the reports of widespread raiding of stores and robberies and rising fears of a breakdown of law and order, the government said it was flying more police to the central Philippines.
Although deadly storms are not unusual in the Philippines, Typhoon Haiyan appears to stand apart, both in the ferocity of its winds, which some described as sounding like a freight train, and in its type of destruction. Most deaths from typhoons in the Philippines are caused by mudslides and river flooding from heavy rains.
So when Haiyan sped across the islands on Friday, some officials and weather experts in the Philippines thought they had witnessed something of a miracle. The storm that lit up social media for days with dire warnings was thought to have mostly spared the islands because it did not linger long enough to dump a deluge of rain.
What they did not factor into their hopeful assessments was a storm surge that some reports said reached 13 feet in Tacloban, and which left a trail of destruction that in some ways mirrored the aftermath of tsunamis. One photo of a merchant ship left stranded on land resembled images from Japan in 2011, when an earthquake flung a wall of water onto its northeastern shore.
While it was unclear if the power of the storm was tied to climate change, the surge may serve as another reminder to low-lying cities of the need to prepare for the worst.
President Aquino had urged residents to leave low-lying areas, but he did not order an evacuation. On Sunday, he toured some stricken areas and declared a “state of calamity,” a first step in the release of emergency money from the government.
As the president arrived in Tacloban to meet with victims of the storm and to coordinate rescue and cleanup efforts, his defense secretary, Voltaire Gazmin, described the chaos in the city of 220,000.
“There is no power, no water, nothing,” Mr. Gazmin said. “People are desperate.”
Lynette Lim, a spokeswoman for Save the Children, weathered the storm in a local government office in Tacloban before leaving the city on a military aircraft Sunday morning. She said that even schools, gymnasiums and other sites that the local government had designated as evacuation centers had failed to hold up against the powerful winds.
“The roofs had been ripped off, the windows had shattered, and sometimes the ceilings had caved in,” Ms. Lim said in a telephone interview from Manila.
Poor neighborhoods fared especially badly, with virtually no structures left standing except a few government buildings. With no police officers in sight on Sunday morning, Ms. Lim said, people had begun grabbing food and other items off pharmacy and grocery store shelves.
Video from Tacloban on ABS-CBN television showed scores of people entering stores and stuffing suitcases and bags with clothing and housewares. One photo showed a man holding a gun protecting his store.
News reports from Tacloban told of how officials were unable to get an accurate death count because law enforcement and government personnel could not be found after the storm. Tacloban’s mayor, Alfred S. Romualdez, was reported to have been “holding on to his roof” before being rescued, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
By Monday, the weakened typhoon had made landfall in Vietnam, according to the Hong Kong Observatory, but it was too early to assess the damage.
International aid agencies and foreign governments sent emergency teams to the Philippines. At the request of the Philippine government, the United States defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, ordered the deployment of ships and aircraft to bring emergency supplies and help in the search-and-rescue efforts, the Defense Department said. The United States Embassy in Manila made $100,000 immediately available for health and sanitation efforts, according to its Twitter feed.
President Obama issued a statement on Sunday that said he expected “the incredible resiliency of the Philippine people” to help the country, an American ally, through the trauma. He said the United States government also stood ready to assist the government’s relief and recovery efforts.
On Sunday, about 90 American Marines and sailors based in Okinawa, Japan, landed in the Philippines as part of an advance team assessing the disaster to determine what the Pentagon might need to help in relief efforts.
According to Colonel Brad Bartlet, a Marine spokesman, the team has made requests for C-130 cargo airplanes, MV-22 Osprey helicopters and other aircraft to participate in search and recovery at sea. The Navy has also sent two P-3 Orion surveillance planes, which are often used during natural disasters to patrol the seas looking for survivors stranded in ships and boats.
Mar Roxas, the Philippine interior minister, said that while relief supplies were beginning to reach the Tacloban airport, they could go no farther because debris was blocking the roads in the area.
“The entire airport was under water up to roof level,” Mr. Roxas said, according to The Philippine Daily Inquirer. Speaking to reporters in Tacloban, he added, “The devastation here is absolute.”
Robert S. Zeigler, the director general of the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baños, Philippines, said he was concerned that the damage reports seemed to be mainly from Tacloban, where aid has so far been concentrated, and not from the many fishing communities that line the coast.
“The coastal areas can be quite vulnerable — in many cases, you have fishing communities right up to the shoreline, and they can be wiped out” by a powerful storm surge, he said. “The disturbing reports are the lack of reports, and the areas that are cut off could be quite severely hit.”
Residents of Cebu, one of the country’s largest cities, said many roads to the north of Cebu Island were still closed after towns there suffered heavy damage, although the city was spared the brunt of the storm.
“It was very loud, like a train,” said Ranulfo L. Manatad, a night watchman at a street market in Mandaue City, on the northern outskirts of Cebu.
In Mabolo, another town on the city’s northern flank, the winds toppled a locally famous tree with a trunk roughly a yard in diameter. The tree had withstood every typhoon for more than a century.
Across Cebu province, 43 people were killed, 111 were injured and five are missing, said Wilson Ramos, the deputy disaster management officer for Cebu. The authorities were trying to conduct aerial surveys of the area directly hit by the storm’s center, particularly the town of Daanbantayan and Bantayan Island, Mr. Ramos said.
“We are very tired already,” he said in the province’s disaster offices. “But we hope to send relief to those affected.”
Reporting was contributed by Gerry Mullany from Hong Kong, Floyd Whaley from Iloilo, Philippines, Austin Ramzy from Cebu and Mark Mazzetti from Washington.
*******************************
To view photos and watch videos, click http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/11/world/asia/philippines-typhoon.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&rref=world&hpw (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/11/world/asia/philippines-typhoon.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&rref=world&hpw)
-
Naa na pud coming baygo. Eastern Mindanao ang 1st padulong na pud central visayas.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/74516/pagasa-spots-new-lpa-nearing-mindanao-is-that-you-zoraida (http://www.interaksyon.com/article/74516/pagasa-spots-new-lpa-nearing-mindanao-is-that-you-zoraida)
Sent from my GT-S5360 using Tapatalk 2
By Louis Bacani (philstar.com) | Updated November 11, 2013 - 8:11am
MANILA, Philippines - Some areas have been placed under a public storm warning signal after a new tropical cyclone entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility just days after Super Typhoon Yolanda slammed into the country and devastated several provinces.
In a bulletin issued at 5 a.m. today, state weather bureau PAGASA said tropical depression "Zoraida" was last observed at 950 kilometers southeast of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur and was just bearing maximum winds of 55 kilometers per hour near the center.
Zoraida is forecast to move northwest at 28 kph and to be at 400 kilometers southeast of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur by Tuesday morning.
By Wednesday morning, the tropical cyclone is expected to be in the vicinity of Tagbilaran City and to be at 170 kilometers west of Coron, Palawan by Thursday morning.
Public storm warning signal no. 1 has been hoisted over Dinagat Island, Siargao Island, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Davao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Davao Oriental.
PAGASA said moderate to heavy (5 to 15 millimeters per hour) within the 300-kilometer diameter of the tropical depression.
The agency said sea travel is risky over the northern seaboard of northern Luzon and eastern seaboard of northern and central Luzon.
Mindanao and eastern Visayas will be cloudy with light to moderate rains and thunderstorms. The rest of Visayas will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rains or thunderstorms. Metro manila and the rest of Luzon will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains.
Moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast will prevail over Luzon and coming from the northeast to north over Mindanao. The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be with moderate to rough.
-
by: Jamie Walker From: The Australian November 11, 2013 12:00AM
MORE than 10,000 people are feared dead after the fiercest typhoon ever recorded laid waste to The Philippines' east, overwhelming emergency services and leaving bodies rotting in the streets of shattered cities and towns.
Tacloban, the provincial capital of Leyte, was smashed by 315km/h winds and ocean surges that flattened homes, turned cars into "tumbleweeds" and hurled ships hundreds of metres inland, creating a putrid swamp of debris and death.
In scenes reminiscent of the lethal 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that hit the region, waves of up to 3m drowned those who had not been killed in collapsed buildings or by flying rubble.
Coconut palms were snapped like twigs.
More than 600,000 people were being evacuated from low-lying parts of Vietnam last night as Super Typhoon Haiyan charged across the South China Sea, on track to strike the northern province of Nghe An and affect the capital, Hanoi.
Nghe An has a population of three million people, and many millions more in southern China, Laos and Cambodia stand to be struck by gales and flooding rain.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said a 49-year-old Australian man was among the confirmed dead in The Philippines.
He is understood to be former Sydney Catholic priest and high-profile child-sex-abuse whistleblower Kevin Lee, who had joined his Filipina wife and mother of their newborn child after being stripped of his parish responsibilities in Sydney for marrying in secret.
The manager of Tacloban airport said the bodies of 100 people lay where they had died, while 100 more were injured, some seriously. Storm chaser John Morgerman described an "utterly ghastly" scene in the provincial centre of 220,000.
There was "widespread looting and unclaimed bodies decaying in the open", he wrote on Facebook.
"The typhoon moved fast and didn't last long . . . but it struck with terrifying ferocity."
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said Australia would immediately provide $390,000 worth of emergency relief for sleeping mats, blankets, mosquito nets, water containers and medical kits.
Non-government organisations such as World Vision and Oxfam are gearing up to send in teams, with estimates that 1.2 million people have been made homeless or displaced by the typhoon in The Philippines. Though weakening, it retained a powerful punch as it advanced on northern Vietnam for an expected landfall today.
When it struck The Philippines on Friday, with winds of up to 315km/h, Super Typhoon Haiyan was the world's strongest tropical cyclone since Hurricane Camille hit the US in 1969 with 305km/h winds.
It was the 25th typhoon to tear through The Philippines this year, a country that endures a seemingly never-ending pattern of tropical cyclones, earthquakes, volcano eruptions and floods.
The horrifying rise in the feared death toll came as the US pledged military support and as countless survivors across a huge swath of The Philippines went without help for a third day.
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and surface maritime search-and-rescue equipment were being sent, following a direct request from Manila.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said UN humanitarian agencies would respond "rapidly" to help people in need.
Leyte provincial Governor Dominic Petilla told police there had been 10,000-plus deaths on the island, mostly by drowning and building collapse.
Between 70 per cent and 80 per cent of homes in the path of typhoon had been destroyed, he said.
Tacloban city administrator Tecson Lim warned that the death toll in the city alone "could go up to 10,000".
Witnesses told of destruction on an epic scale, with concrete slabs the only part of many homes remaining, cars flipped over and power lines destroyed.
"There are cars thrown like tumbleweeds and the streets are strewn with debris," said Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, the head of a UN disaster assessment co-ordination team, in Tacloban.
"The last time I saw something of this scale was in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami," he said, referring to the disaster eight years ago that claimed 220,000 lives.
While Leyte was believed to have been the worst-hit province, the carnage extended over a 600km stretch of islands through the central Philippines.
A few dozen other deaths had been confirmed in some of these areas, but authorities admitted they were completely overwhelmed and many communities were yet to be contacted.
Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala said among the communities yet to be contacted was Guiuan, a fishing town of about 40,000 people on Samar island that was the first to be hit after Haiyan roared in from the Pacific Ocean.
The tourist island of Malapascua, north of Cebu, appeared to be in ruins, according to aerial photographs, with people there unaccounted for.
At least 30 people had died in Samar.
Additional reporting: Mitchell Nadin, Agencies
*************************************
To view photos and watch videos, click http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/super-typhoon-haiyan-tears-philippines-apart/story-e6frg6so-1226756953316 (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/super-typhoon-haiyan-tears-philippines-apart/story-e6frg6so-1226756953316)
-
kita ka sa balita brad? grabeha noh? ang Tacloban gusto na mag declare ug Martial Law kay ang mga tawo didto nangabri na ug mga establishments para lang makakuha ng mga pwede paginteresan like foods and drinks..
grabe btaw bro... naunsa nman ang pilipinas dito nga sa laguna baha rin.
-
grabe btaw bro... naunsa nman ang pilipinas dito nga sa laguna baha rin.
mag ingat kayo dyaan please and please
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/11/enaquqy4.jpg)
-
ang nakapait kay giapil na kuha pati mga appliances..
-
Bagjo palajo intawon!
-
God spare us!
-
Dumating na ba si Zoraida?
-
ang nakapait kay giapil na kuha pati mga appliances..
mao jud .. unsaon man intawn pag gamit adto na wala may power .. mas okay na sana kng makain lang at mainum eh .. grabeh
-
This aerial photo shows destroyed houses in the town of Guiuan in Eastern Samar province, central Philippines on November 11, 2013
(http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/9h4q0Xn00dW.X2OVSYKIQg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9NTExO2NyPTE7Y3c9NzY4O2R4PTA7ZHk9MDtmaT11bGNyb3A7aD00MjA7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_sg/News/AFP/0752eb0a34dc35a4fe9f71230c6febc319711d16.jpg)
-
Shocking!
-
mao jud .. unsaon man intawn pag gamit adto na wala may power .. mas okay na sana kng makain lang at mainum eh .. grabeh
mao lagi..
-
This aerial photo shows destroyed houses in the town of Guiuan in Eastern Samar province, central Philippines on November 11, 2013
(http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/9h4q0Xn00dW.X2OVSYKIQg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9NTExO2NyPTE7Y3c9NzY4O2R4PTA7ZHk9MDtmaT11bGNyb3A7aD00MjA7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_sg/News/AFP/0752eb0a34dc35a4fe9f71230c6febc319711d16.jpg)
so sad.. looy!
-
grabeh noh .. everytime i see those pictures and videos of the Yolanda aftermath, can't help but shed tears .. luoy kaayo ..
-
Luoy gyud kaayo. Mas grabe pa kaysa EQ sa bohol
Sent from my GT-S5360 using Tapatalk 2
-
The Telegraph Telegraph.co.uk Wednesday 13 November 2013 6 hrs ago.
Typhoon Haiyan death toll expected to rise, as UN launches major appeal and US and Britain deploy warships carrying thousands of soldiers to the Philippines. Latest updates
19.00 We're going to leave it there for the night, please check our Philippines http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/philippines/10440461/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/philippines/ (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/philippines/10440461/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/philippines/) page for the latest.
18.50 The Philippine Daily Inquirer http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/526279/mad-rush-out-of-tacloban (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/526279/mad-rush-out-of-tacloban) posts this footage from Tacloban, the city of 220,000 worst hit by the storm.
As two Philippine Air Force C-130s arrived just after dawn at the destroyed Daniel Romualdez Airport, more than 3,000 people surged to the tarmac past a broken iron fence to try and get on the aircraft, but soldiers and policemen held them back.
Mothers raised their babies high above their heads in the rain in hopes of getting aboard. One woman in her 30s lay on a stretcher, shaking uncontrollably.
Only a few managed to board.
“I was pleading with the soldiers. I was kneeling and begging because I have diabetes,” said Helen Cordial, whose house was destroyed during the typhoon. “Do they want me to die in this airport? They have hearts of stone.”
18.35 Obama spoke with Benigno Aquino, the Filipino president, this morning, according to Jay Carney, the White House press secretary.
This morning President Obama spoke with President Aquino of the Philippines to express our deep condolences for the lives lost and damage caused by Supertyphoon Haiyan/Yolanda, one of the largest, strongest storms to ever hit land.
The aircraft carrier the USS George Washington is en route to the Philippines to provide a base for search and rescue flights and helicopters ferrying in supplies to disaster-hit areas
.
18.22 The British government has said it will match donations to the Disaster Emergency Committee up to the (fairly modest) sum of £5 million.
************************************
To read more, view photos and watch videos, click http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/philippines/10440461/Typhoon-Haiyan-live.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/philippines/10440461/Typhoon-Haiyan-live.html) .
This page will automatically update every 90 seconds.
-
Dumating na ba si Zoraida?
Time for a commercial break.
:) ;)
Quote from: juan on October 16, 2013, 09:17:57 AM
Sacrifice sale -- Inheritance Settlement
# 6 Dove St., Isabel Village, Palao, Iligan City, Philippines
Inspect to appreciate
Contact Mr. Jose Y. Tan in the same address.
It's a steal!!!!!
***********************************************
Quote from: juan on November 01, 2013, 02:10:03 PM
Paging Mr. Jose Y. Tan!!!!!
Is your address still # 6 Dove St., Isabel Village, Palao, Iligan City, Philippines?
:-\ :-\ :-\ :-\ :-\
***********************************************
Quote from: juan on November 03, 2013, 10:22:58 AM
Attention: Bargain hunters!!!!!
Choiced commercial property located at
Cor. Echiverri & Zamora Sts.,
Iligan City, 9200 Philippines.
Contact Ms. Emelita Lee in the same address.
Make an offer
***********************************************
Quote from: juan on November 03, 2013, 10:24:32 AM
Emy,
Please tell my brother to send me copies of sales docs of family properties sold so I can calculate my rightful share of the inheritance.
Make him understand that, if he refuses, his behaviour and action will be tantamount to robbery.
Understand that harbouring a thief is a crime.
***********************************************
-
Typhoon Haiyan Aftermath: New Storm Zoraida Strikes Philippines as US and UK Send Warships
International Business Times November 12, 2013 5:27 AM GMT By Vasudevan Sridharan
Tropical cyclone Zoraida has made landfall in the Philippines, which is still reeling under the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan.
The eye of the new storm reached land over Caraga town in Davao Oriental, packing maximum sustained winds of 55kmph, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Association (Pagasa) said.
The tropical depression is expected to move past the Philippines on Thursday (13 November).
"The regions of Davao, Caraga, Northern Mindanao, Zamboanga Peninsula, Armm, Province of North Cotabato, Central and Western Visayas, Northern Palawan and the Islands of Camiguin, Calamian, Cuyo and Samal will have rains with gusty winds with moderate to rough seas," said Pagasa.
The weather bureau has also warned residents in low-lying regions against flashfloods and landslides.
Zoraida is likely to hinder the ongoing rescue measures by the Philippine authorities, who are struggling to access the storm-ravaged areas and supply aid to survivors.
A national state of calamity has already been declared by the Philippine President Benigno Aquino amid fears that the death toll could sharply increase from 10,000.
"My appeal to you all is: remaining calm, praying, co-operating with, and assisting one another are the things that will help us to rise from this calamity," Aquino said in a televised address.
Meanwhile, international relief efforts have begun four days after the super-typhoon, known locally as Yolanda, devastated the country.
Apart from $20m in humanitarian aid, the US is sending its aircraft carrier USS George Washington, the Pentagon said.
The carrier, with 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircraft onboard, is expected to arrive in the Philippines within 48 to 72 hours. The vessel is currently in Hong Kong for a port visit.
Other US navy ships will also be heading to the Philippines to accelerate aid supplies and to help the survivors.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has said the UK is sending a Royal Navy warship carrying equipment to make drinking water from seawater.
"Britain is contributing £10m and HMS Daring, currently deployed near Singapore, will shortly be heading at full speed towards the disaster zone with further support from an RAF C-17 which will be a powerful help to the relief operation," Cameron said during his address at the Lord Mayor's Banquet.
To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail: [email protected]
To contact the editor, e-mail: [email protected]
**************************
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/521424/20131112/typhoon-haiyan-yolanda-philippines-warships-tacloban-leyte.htm (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/521424/20131112/typhoon-haiyan-yolanda-philippines-warships-tacloban-leyte.htm)
-
ang nakapait kay giapil na kuha pati mga appliances..
Mabangis tlg c Yolanda! Di na cguro ako magaasawa ulit. :D ;)
On 2nd thought, why not? Anyway, got nothing to lose anymore. Except what's between my legs. Ooops! Delicado! Not a comforting thought! ::) ;D ;)
-
ang nakapait kay giapil na kuha pati mga appliances..
Buti lang di sinali ang purol ni wardz. Di pa naman iyon nagbibref. Par raw madali dudukutin! Ay, nako! Tlgng wlng delicadeso! ;D ;)
-
Dumating na ba si Zoraida?
Think Zoraida’s a mild one relative to Yolanda. But who knows? Like women, for which they got their names from, typhoons can be mercurial. Hehehe :) ;)
As what happened with Yolanda, Samar was her epicentre. Left Samar swiftly leaving a short moment of calmness. As mentioned elsewhere, thought a miracle had happened. Even Pres. Aquino confidently ordered zero death.
Then, unprecedented, a 13' tsunami wave rose and swept across neighbouring Leyte leaving a catastrophe of enormous proportion.
Waves like that aren't uncommon elsewhere, though. Surfers, to be classified as daredevils, have to brave 20' minimum.
Vaguely recall a '90s article in Fortune 500 about a meteorologist who, everyone, including himself, didn't know he was the richest man in a California beach area till a survey was conducted.
For sideline, was teaching surfing. Wrote a computer program that could forecast wave conditions on favourite surfing beaches around the world. Fax info to clients. Surfers and spectators would take timeoff, jump on a plane and go there. Oh, yeah, there are many enthusiasts worldwide. ;)
Never heard of waves that high in Central Visayas. Guess climate change has altered this. Who knows? One day, it might become a favourite surfing spot. :) ;)
-
Buti lang di sinali ang purol ni wardz. Di pa naman iyon nagbibref. Par raw madali dudukutin! Ay, nako! Tlgng wlng delicadeso! ;D ;)
ayay, pag nagkataon pareng juan, parang na looting din...hahaha
-
grabeh noh .. everytime i see those pictures and videos of the Yolanda aftermath, can't help but shed tears .. luoy kaayo ..
same ta.. kada tan-aw nako sa news.. especially kanang manawagan & magpahibalo na wala na ilahang mga loved ones, so heartbreaking!
-
Quote from: OMG! on November 07, 2013, 02:10:45 AM
PLEASE HELP ME PRAY TO OUR PROVINCE IN BOHOL Pls pass to start a prayer brigade... Almighty & Loving Father, creator of d universe, we fervently ask ur DIVINE and infinite MERCY to take control of typhoon YOLANDA and divert it to the sea. we put our trust in ur power. We implore you to embrace us, the BOHOL visayas in calm typhoon Yolanda as you did with ur Disciples at the middle of the sea. WE PRAY IN THE MIGHTY NAME OF JESUS. amen...
Nalampasan namin to but we dont have electric and water now 2mos to 4mos pa ma repair ang power source nga from leyte nga badly damage gyud!
We cant see news updates, totally block.out and murag nagsugod tawn mi sa uno nga manual ginagamit...
Poor bohol!
-
thought something like that happened as Bohol is between Leyte and Cebu. Anyway, how's everyone faring? :-\
-
Hunger for electric para pud mogana ang water refilling station mahal kaayo sa mall mopalit ug tubig na 6liters worth p75...
-
Luoy gyud kaayo. Mas grabe pa kaysa EQ sa bohol
Sent from my GT-S5360 using Tapatalk 2
pero migrabe napud ang Bohol bai kay wala napud cla electricity
-
Hunger for electric para pud mogana ang water refilling station mahal kaayo sa mall mopalit ug tubig na 6liters worth p75...
naka freeze naman lahat mga prices ngayon sa mga affected areas ..
-
sigaon na lang jud kanunay ang mata ani..
-
same ta.. kada tan-aw nako sa news.. especially kanang manawagan & magpahibalo na wala na ilahang mga loved ones, so heartbreaking!
Heard too many heartbreaking sagas. Not to mention mine own. Already immune to them. :)
And, only a matter of time, you will be as calamities become a common occurrence. ::)
Especially with this kind of combination,
As one commented,
willowville3 says:
Compare Vietnam's response to the Philippines totally inadequate preparation. :-\
Oh, yes, the Philippines was forewarned days ahead! ::) Interested in replying? ???
Another commented,
sangkang1974 says:
Sad thing is, this type of disaster is going to be a common thing as time goes on. :(
This combination is a recipe for a disaster of enormous proportion in every catastrophic event. ::)
Mahirap magdisiplina sa mga tao sa atin! :( :)
-
CBS/AP/ November 13, 2013, 9:35 PM
Updated 9:35 PM ET
TACLOBAN, Philippines Soldiers sat atop trucks distributing rice and water on Thursday in this typhoon-devastated city and chainsaw- wielding teams cut debris from blocked roads, small signs that a promised aid effort is beginning to pick up pace even as thousands flocked the airport, desperate to leave.
The first C-130 transport planes arrived at 3 a.m. at Tacloban airport, the first nighttime flight since the typhoon struck on Friday, suggesting air control systems are now in place for a 24-7 operation - a prerequisite for the massive relief operation needed.
Food, water and medical supplies from the U.S., Malaysia and Singapore sat on pallets along the tarmac.
Military officials were among the thousands waiting outside the airport trying to get their families out.
"My family has nothing to eat, and we have no place to stay," said Sgt. William Escala. We cannot bear the stench. The kids are getting sick."
While the cogs of what promises to be a massive international aid effort are beginning to turn, it is still not quick enough for the 600,000 people displaced, many of them homeless, hungry and thirsty, their livelihoods destroyed.
Much of the aid - and the staff needed to distribute it - is stuck in Manila and the nearby airport of Cebu, a 45-minute flight away.
Earlier, mobs overran a rice warehouse on the island worst hit by the Philippine typhoon, setting off a wall collapse that killed eight people and carting off thousands of sacks of the grain, while security forces Wednesday exchanged gunfire with an armed gang.
The incidents in or close to the storm-ravaged city hosting international relief efforts add to concerns about the slow pace of aid distribution and that parts of the disaster zone are descending into chaos.
Five long days after Typhoon Haiyan wasted the eastern seaboard of the Philippines, the cogs of what promises to be a massive international aid effort are beginning to turn, but not quickly enough for the estimated 600,000 people displaced, many of them homeless, hungry and thirsty.
"There's a bit of a logjam to be absolutely honest getting stuff in here," said U.N. staffer Sebastian Rhodes Stampa against the roar of a C-130 transport plane landing behind him at the airstrip in Tacloban, one of the hardest-hit cities.
"It's almost all in country - either in Manila or in Cebu, but it's not here. We're going to have a real challenge with logistics in terms of getting things out of here, into town, out of town, into the other areas," he said. "The reason for that essentially is that there are no trucks, the roads are all closed."
CBS News correspondent Seth Doane reported from Tacloban that, with no clean drinking water in sight, some people tapped into an underground pipe just so they could fill up containers.
"We don't know if it's safe," one man said. "We'll need to boil it, but at least we have something."
Jaimie Fernandez lost his home. There is very little left for him and his family to live on. "We can't buy food or get food from other stores," Fernandez told CBS News, "because there are no stores to buy them in."
Typhoon Haiyan recovery: How you can help http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57611684/typhoon-haiyan-typhoon-yolanda-recovery-how-you-can-help/ (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57611684/typhoon-haiyan-typhoon-yolanda-recovery-how-you-can-help/)
Planes, ships and trucks were all on their way to the region, loaded with generators, water purifying kits and emergency lights - vital equipment needed to sustain a major relief mission. Airports were reopening in the region, and the U.S. military said it was installing equipment to allow the damaged Tacloban aiport to operate 24-7.
"The priority has got to be, let's get the food in, let's get the water in. We got a lot more come in today, but even that won't be enough. We really need to scale up operation in an ongoing basis," U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told reporters after touring Talcoban, the capital of Leyte province. Her office has released $25 million in emergency relief fund, accounting for a chunk of the millions of dollars pledged by countries around the world.
Tacloban's mayor, Alfred Romualdez, urged residents to flee the city because local authorities were having trouble providing food and water and maintaining order, The New York Times reported. He said the city was in desperate need of trucks to distribute relief shipments that were accumulating at the city's airport as well as equipment to pull decaying corpses from the rubble.
Eight people were crushed to death when the mob stormed a rice warehouse around 15 miles from Tacloban on Tuesday and carried off thousands of sacks of grain, according to National Food Authority spokesman Rex Estoperez.
On Wednesday, gunfire broke out close to the city's San Juanico bridge on Wednesday between security forces and armed men, but the circumstances were unclear, according to footage on local TV.
Since the storm, people have broken into homes, malls and garages, where they have stripped the shelves of food, water and other goods. Authorities have struggled to stop the looting. There have been unconfirmed reports of armed gangs of robbers operating in a systematic manner.
An 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew was in place across the region. Despite incidents, police said the situation was improving.
"We have restored order," said Carmelo Espina Valmoria, director of the Philippine National Police special action force. "There has been looting for the last three days, but the situation has stabilized."
The death toll rose to 2,357, according a national tally kept by the disaster agency. That figure is expected to rise, perhaps significantly, when accurate information is collected from the whole disaster zone, which spreads over a wide swath of the eastern and central Philippines but appears to be concentrated on two main islands - Leyte and Samar. On Wednesday, the State Department said that 23 U.S. citizens have been transported to Manila via military aircraft, CBS News reported.
Gegham Petrosyan, from International Committee of the Red Cross, said destruction along the south cost of Samar island had been "massive."
"People are desperate for life-saving aid," Petrosyan said. "However, logistical and security constraints continue to hamper the distribution of desperately needed relief."
The congressman for Eastern Samar province, a coastal region that bore the full force of the storm, said 211 had been killed there and 45 were missing. He said some villages have been wiped out, with practically no structures standing. In one town, bodies remain lying on the road because help has not come to retrieve or bury them. Other towns have conducted mass burials.
"The situation there was horrible," Ben Evardone told a local television station. "Some communities disappeared, entire villages were wiped out. They were shouting 'food, food, food!' when they saw me."
Meanwhile, a run-down, single-story building with filthy floors at Tacloban's ruined airport has become the area's main medical center for victims. It has little medicine, virtually no facilities and very few doctors.
What it is not short of are patients.
Hundreds of injured people, pregnant women, children and the elderly have poured into the squat, white building behind the control tower. Doctors who have so far been dealing with cuts, fractures and pregnancy complications said Wednesday they soon expect to be treating more serious problems such as pneumonia, dehydration, diarrhea and infections.
Doane reported Tuesday evening that he visited a state-run government hospital and was told that it was really struggling to deal with the patients it had. He observed people with relatively simple injuries that had become life threatening because hospital didn't have the blood supply and it couldn't airlift patients out. He further added that the hospital was operating on generator power but after the typhoon it was stitching wounds by candlelight. One of the biggest problems is no food -- and it was at a government-run hospital.
U.S. Brig Gen. Paul Kennedy promised a response akin to the widely praised U.S. military one after the 2004 Asian tsunami, when fleets of helicopters dropped water and food to hundreds of isolated communities along the coast.
"You are not just going to see Marines and a few planes and some helicopters," Kennedy said. "You will see the entire Pacific Command respond to this crisis."
A Norwegian ship carrying supplies left from Manila, while an Australian air force transport plane took off from Canberra carrying a medical team. British and American navy vessels are also en route to the region.
At the Tacloban airport, a doctor said supplies of antibiotics and anesthetics arrived Tuesday for the first time.
"Until then, patients had to endure the pain," said Dr. Victoriano Sambale.
Doane also reported that U.S. military flights are now operating 24 hours a day from nearby Cebu airport, ferrying in aid and medical supplies.
Relief officials said comparing the pace of this operation to those in past disasters was largely pointless because each posed unique challenges.
In Indonesia's Aceh, the worst-hit region by the 2004 tsunami, relief hubs were easier to set up than in Tacloban. The main airport there was functioning 24-7 within a couple of days of the disaster. While devastation in much of the city of Banda Aceh was total, large inland parts of the city were undamaged, providing a base for aid operations and temporary accommodation for the homeless.
******************************************************
To read more, view photos and watch videos, click http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57612214/rice-water-distributed-in-typhoon-struck-philippine-city/ (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57612214/rice-water-distributed-in-typhoon-struck-philippine-city/)
-
By Chelsea J. Carter, Anderson Cooper and Anna Coren, CNN November 14, 2013 -- Updated 0243 GMT (1043 HKT)
To read post, view photos and watch videos, click http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/13/world/asia/typhoon-haiyan/ (http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/13/world/asia/typhoon-haiyan/)
-
thanks man...
-
November 13, 2013 11:37 PM By Carmela Cruz and Chico Harlan / The Washington Post
TACLOBAN, Philippines -- Even as the Philippines reopened two airstrips to help speed up the flow of aid Wednesday, parts of the typhoon-hit central region plunged deeper into distress, with gunfire cracking to ward off looters and survivors worrying that they would die before they received help.
"We survived the typhoon, but this will kill us," Mary Jane Garcia, 44, said at the crowded airport in the city of Tacloban, where she and hundreds of others begged for a flight out on a military transport plane.
The ramped-up relief effort in the Philippines has brought aid to tens of thousands of victims of Typhoon Haiyan, but it has also exposed the vastness of this disaster -- which spans several hundred miles of islands and includes areas yet to be accessed.
Nearly six days after the storm ripped through the Philippines's central islands, bringing with it a tsunami-like wall of water, the extent of the devastation is clear. Bloated corpses of people, pigs and dogs line the main streets. Towns are short on body bags. Roads are blocked. Fuel is almost impossible to find, even for aid workers with vehicles that could transport vital supplies.
The disaster has reduced Tacloban, once a bustling provincial capital of 220,000, to a broken landscape of denuded hills and brown rot. Government buildings are abandoned and torn apart, and the stink of decay fills the air. With power out everywhere, miles of downed electrical wires have been repurposed as makeshift laundry lines, on which residents hang soaked remnants of clothing and bedding.
Asked where she would be willing to relocate if she could secure space on a plane ferrying emergency crews and supplies, Ms. Garcia did not hesitate: "Anywhere."
Government officials say more than 1,000 armed forces personnel have been deployed nationwide to restore order, and in Tacloban, police have imposed an evening curfew. But about 10 miles outside the city Tuesday, a mob ransacked a government building storing packages of rice, National Food Authority spokesman Rex Estoperez said in a phone interview.
The incident illustrated the problems with the hasty relief efforts, Mr. Estoperez said. The packages of rice were not piled securely, and when the mob entered the building, the rice bags collapsed, knocking over a wall and killing eight of the looters. The others in the mob walked out with whatever they could grab -- thousands of sacks of rice, which they are trying to resell locally.
"We're asking the people who took the rice to share it with the victims, instead of selling it and doing business," Mr. Estoperez said.
The Philippines has never conducted a relief operation of such magnitude, Jose Rene Almendras, a Cabinet secretary, told reporters.
There are some signs of progress. In the town of Ormoc, on the same island as Tacloban, aid workers say the police presence is heavy, and that security is not a problem.
Two airports in the disaster zone reopened Wednesday, giving new options for transport planes, aviation officials said. Water-purification equipment was flown Wednesday into Tacloban, and newly installed beacons and runway lights allowed for nighttime takeoffs and landings for the first time since the disaster.
In a statement Wednesday, President Barack Obama encouraged Americans "who want to help our Filipino friends to visit whitehouse.gov/typhoon, which offers links to organizations working in the Philippines and ways to support their efforts."
"The friendship between our two countries runs deep, and when our friends are in trouble, America helps," said Mr. Obama, noting a growing U.S. assistance effort. "U.S. ships, including the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, are on their way to the scene to help expand search and rescue operations, provide logistical support and medical care, and provide a platform for helicopters to move supplies to remote areas. "
U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos toured Tacloban on Wednesday and told reporters afterward that although a significant amount of material was brought in during the day, much more remains to be done. Her office has released $25 million in emergency relief funds, as nations around the globe are pledging to send millions in assistance. "The priority has got to be -- let's get the food in, let's get the water in," Ms. Amos said, according to The Associated Press. "We really need to scale up [the] operation."
Some Philippine officials are indicating that the death toll might be substantially lower than initially feared. Based on the latest government count, 2,344 are dead. President Benigno Aquino III told CNN on Tuesday that the final figure might not top 2,500.
Mr. Aquino's spokeswoman, though, said Wednesday in a phone interview that it is difficult to be sure, and some aid workers have reported towns with thousand of people dead or missing. Estimates of the dead early in the week were as high as 10,000. "I wouldn't put too much into the figures," spokeswoman Abigail Valte said. "There are a number of areas we haven't been able to reach, and we haven't been able to collate the information."
C-130 transport planes from the United States arrived Wednesday with supplies, along with a 747 jetliner containing relief goods such as tents and sanitary aids, said Brian Goldbeck, the U.S. deputy chief of mission in the Philippines. But there's clearly a logjam in distributing the goods from Tacloban, where the stacked-up crates and containers have started to encroach on the runway.
To reach some of the more remote areas, the Philippines is relying on help from the United States, which has sent four MV-22 Ospreys -- hybrid aircraft that can take off like helicopters and fly like jets.
-
Reuters By Stuart Grudgings 4 hours ago
TACLOBAN, Philippines (Reuters) - A U.S. aircraft carrier started unloading food and water in the typhoon-ravaged central Philippines, while the United Nations, citing government figures, put the latest death toll at 4,460 - almost double the last official number given.
President Benigno Aquino has faced mounting pressure to speed up the distribution of supplies and stoked debate over the extent of casualties from Typhoon Haiyan.
Earlier this week, he said estimates of 10,000 dead by local officials were overstated and caused by "emotional trauma". He had said the toll was closer to 2,000 or 2,500, adding it could rise. His comments have drawn skepticism from some aid workers.
"As of 13 November, the government reported that 4,460 people have died," the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in its daily situation report, issued out of Manila and dated Thursday.
Official confirmed deaths stood at 2,357 on Thursday. It was unclear on Friday, where it was still very early in Manila, if the government publicly updated that number overnight.
Survivors have grown increasingly desperate and angry over the pace of aid distribution, which has been hindered by paralyzed local governments, widespread looting, a lack of fuel and debris-choked roads.
The dead are still being buried one week after the storm and a tsunami-like wall of seawater slammed into coastal areas. Many corpses remain uncovered on roadsides or under splintered homes in the worst-hit city of Tacloban.
Foreign aid officials have called the disaster unprecedented for the Philippines.
"There is utter devastation. People are desperate for food, water, shelter, supplies and information about their loved ones," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters on Thursday during a visit to Latvia.
"We are doing everything possible to rush assistance to those who need it. Now is the time for the international community to stand with the people of the Philippines."
U.S. HELICOPTERS TO AID RELIEF EFFORT
The nuclear-powered USS George Washington aircraft carrier and accompanying ships arrived off eastern Samar province on Thursday evening, carrying 5,000 crew and more than 80 aircraft.
The carrier moved some fixed-wing aircraft ashore to make more room for the helicopters on its flight deck.
"One of the best capabilities the strike group brings is our 21 helicopters," commander Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery said in a statement. "These helicopters represent a good deal of lift to move emergency supplies around."
U.S. sailors have brought food and water ashore in Tacloban and the town of Guiuan.
The carrier is moored near where U.S. General Douglas MacArthur's force of 174,000 men landed on October 20, 1944, in one of the biggest Allied victories of World War Two.
Another U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, led a massive aid operation off Indonesia's Aceh province after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.
Aquino has been on the defensive over his handling of the storm, given warnings of its projected strength and the risk of a storm surge, and now the pace of relief efforts.
He has said the death toll might have been higher had it not been for the evacuation of people and the readying of relief supplies, but survivors say they had little warning of any seawater surge. ::)
Tacloban city administrator Tecson John Lim, who on Sunday estimated 10,000 likely died in his city alone, said Aquino may be deliberately downplaying casualties.
"Of course he doesn't want to create too much panic. Perhaps he is grappling with whether he wants to reduce the panic so that life goes on," he said.
The preliminary number of missing as of Thursday, according to the Red Cross, remained at 22,000. That could include people who have since been located, it has said.
'WHO IS IN CHARGE?'
Tacloban's main convention center, the Astrodome, has become a temporary home for hundreds of people living in squalor. Families cooked meals amid the stench of garbage and urine. Debris was strewn along rows of seats rising from dark pools of stagnant water.
"We went into the Astrodome and asked who is in charge and just got blank stares," said Joe Lowry, a spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration, which is setting up camps for the displaced.
Survivors formed long lines under searing sunshine, and then torrential rain, to charge mobile phones from the only power source available - a city hall generator. Others started to repair motorbikes and homes. A rescue worker cleared debris near a wall with the spray-painted words: "We need food".
Outside Tacloban, burials began for about 300 bodies in a mass grave on Thursday. A larger grave will be dug for 1,000, Lim said.
The city government remains paralyzed, with an average of just 70 workers on duty, compared with 2,500 normally, he added. Many were killed, injured, lost family or were too overcome with grief to work.
More than 920,000 people have been displaced, the United Nations said. But many areas still have not received aid.
"It's true, there are still areas that we have not been able to get to where people are in desperate need," U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told reporters in Manila. "I very much hope that in the next 48 hours, that will change significantly.
"Yes, I do feel that we have let people down because we have not been able to get in more quickly."
(Additional reporting by Rosemarie Francisco and Eric dela Cruz in Manila, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Phil Stewart in Washington, Greg Torode in Hong Kong and Aija Kr?taine in Latvia; Writing by Dean Yates; Editing by Peter Cooney)
***************************
To view photos and watch videos, click http://news.yahoo.com/aquino-under-pressure-over-typhoon-aid-u-carrier-024020592--sector.html (http://news.yahoo.com/aquino-under-pressure-over-typhoon-aid-u-carrier-024020592--sector.html)
-
thanks man...
No worries, mate! :) ;)
-
Thought kababayans back home might be interested in this comment. :) ;)
• larry 6 hours ago
I just read a comment from someone I think is in the EU. Asking what we were going to do with that aircraft carrier, invade the Philippines? Start another war? So, to this anti American EU hypocrite I will explain.....
The USS George Washington has two nuclear reactors on board that can generate emergency power thru an umbilical system to provide power to hundreds of facilities and homes.
It has a reverse osmosis system on board that can turn sea water into freshwater at a rate of 400,000 gallons per day. ( enough for 2000 homes)
It has helicopters and aircraft to ferry sick and injured to its on board operating rooms and hospital facilities.
It can use these same aircraft to ferry food and supplies inland.
it has a runway that can receive supplies from out side of country, as there is no active airport on the island anymore
So to my EU friend ( probably from France ) I ask ...
What do you have??
Thumbs up!
Skipper! Can you bully your Uncle Sam into sending more? ???
Don't talk about his debt. Not interested. ;D ;)
-
mao sab nay pangagpas ni EU friend...pastilan..
-
How sad..
-
Breaking his back to pay off his Uncle Sam's enormous debt. Not to mention sending home generous periodic remittances. :(
So, kababayans back home! Which is better? Stay home or go to USA? ???
Once again, skipper, don't thank me for adding insult to injury! It's my greatest pleasure to watch you carry the cross all by yourself.
Same goes for your Uncle Sam. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Oh, well, other countries are contributing. But relatively much less. :)
-
mao sab nay pangagpas ni EU friend...pastilan..
Was thinking of replying larry's post. On 2nd thought, why should I? ??? Dli btao ako ang nabuktot og pas-an sa cross. ::)
Will only deprive myself the greatest pleasure of watching such spectacular entertainment. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
-
This aerial photo shows destroyed houses in the town of Guiuan in Eastern Samar province, central Philippines on November 11, 2013
(http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/9h4q0Xn00dW.X2OVSYKIQg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9NTExO2NyPTE7Y3c9NzY4O2R4PTA7ZHk9MDtmaT11bGNyb3A7aD00MjA7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_sg/News/AFP/0752eb0a34dc35a4fe9f71230c6febc319711d16.jpg)
imagine ng duol sa dagat gyud, na tsunami daw?
-
imagine ng duol sa dagat gyud, na tsunami daw?
The question is, albeit being warned days ahead, why so many fatalities? ???
-
basin wala pod ma aware gyud unsa kakusgon
-
basin wala pod ma aware gyud unsa kakusgon
It was forecasted.
Update 05.10.2013 06:30 UTC:
- The typhoon is unfortunately predicted to hit Bohol and this will cause much more damage.
- Predicted winds on Bohol will be around 120 knots or around 222km/hr which will cause much more damage to housing. It is expected that many people will need shelter.
- We will continue to update with further analysis but it currently looks like it will hit on Friday morning/afternoon.
Brace yourselves, Boholanos!
Anyway, it was the unprecedented ??? 13’- tsunami wave that caused the catastrophe. But, then again, tsunamis have been happening elsewhere. Even in Brisbane. So, why were they caught with their pants down? ???
Goes back to,
Quote from: juan on November 13, 2013, 01:18:13 PM
CBSNews.com November 10, 2013, 10:33 PM
Updated at 2:45 a.m. ET Nov. 11, 2013
As one commented,
willowville3 says:
Compare Vietnam's response to the Philippines totally inadequate preparation.
Oh, yes, the Philippines was forewarned days ahead! ::) Interested in replying? ???
************************************************
Quote from: juan on November 13, 2013, 01:36:07 PM
Another commented,
sangkang1974 says:
Sad thing is, this type of disaster is going to be a common thing as time goes on. :(
************************************************
This combination is a recipe for a disaster of enormous proportion in every catastrophe. ::)
Hopefully, that word “unprecedented” will no longer be uttered next time. :)
Quote from: juan on October 30, 2013, 07:25:13 AM
Rappler by Dean Antonio La Vina and Dr. Kristoffer Berse Posted on 10/20/2013 5:08 PM | Updated 10/21/2013 1:30 PM
In the end, it is up to all Boholanos kababayans back home to own or not a new path of development, one that will keep them, their loved ones and their investments safe from the ravages of nature. – Rappler.com
***************************************************************************
Quote from: juan on October 18, 2013, 12:36:05 PM
Be proactive! Forego crab mentality! Synergize!
:) ;)
***************************************************************************
With climate change, don't be too complacent!
:) ;)
-
meaning?
-
basin wala pod ma aware gyud unsa kakusgon
na aware jud sila pero dili expected nga ing-adto ka dako ang dagat mohapak..storm surge ra man daw..meaning kaya,pero mas dako paman diay sa tsunami to nga surge..
-
Sa radio de battery lang mi kapaminaw gyud
-
imagine ng duol sa dagat gyud, na tsunami daw?
storm surge lang pero murag tsunami..
-
storm surge lang pero murag tsunami..
5 meters above sea level and water kataas gikan sa dagat padulong sa tacloban city. airport pud nila apil. imagine a very strong wind plus tsunami like wave covered the city.
Sent from my GT-S5360 using Tapatalk 2
-
btw pag earthquake cause tsunami ang tawag pero bagyo gani ang source sa tidal wave tawag nila storm surge.
Sent from my GT-S5360 using Tapatalk 2
-
hadlok na paminawon ang storm surge karon..hadlok pa tsunami diay..
-
meaning?
That kind of event was not new in the Philippines!
::) :-\
1976 Moro Gulf earthquake
The 1976 Moro Gulf earthquake and tsunami took place on August 16, 1976, at 16:11 UTC (on August 17, 1976, at 00:11 local time), near the islands of Mindanao and Sulu, in the Philippines. Its magnitude was calculated as being as high as 8.0 on the moment magnitude scale. The epicenter was in the Celebes Sea between the islands of Mindanao and Borneo. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center's preliminary magnitude was given as 8.0 on the Richter scale and as 7.9 by other sources. There were many aftershocks following the main earthquake. A major aftershock on August 17 (local date) had a magnitude of 6.8. It was followed by at least fifteen smaller aftershocks.
Effects
The initial earthquake was widespread and was felt as far as the central Philippine islands of the Visayas. A massive tsunami devastated 700 kilometers of coastline bordering the Moro Gulf in the North Celebes Sea, resulting in destruction and death in the coastal communities of the Sulu Archipelago and southern Mindanao, including Zamboanga City and Pagadian City. At least 5000 people died during the earthquake and tsunami, with thousands more remaining missing. Some reports say that as many as 8,000 people lost their lives in total, with ninety percent of all deaths the result of the following tsunami.
Initially over 8,000 people were officially counted as killed or missing, 10,000 injured, and 90,000 homeless, making the 1976 Moro Earthquake and Tsunami one of the most devastating disasters in the history of the Philippine Islands. After the initial earthquake the people were unaware ??? of the need to move to higher ground; when the tsunami hit it sucked most of the victims out to sea. Based on the investigation on the affected region it was confirmed that the waves reached up to 4 to 5 metres (13 to 16 ft) when they hit the areas. There were reports of weak tsunami activity as far as Japan, as well as Indonesian Hydrographic Office reports of unusual wave activity affecting the islands of Sulawesi (Celebes Island) and Borneo.
In Zamboanga City, 14 buildings were partially damaged. Zamboanga City was spared from serious damage of the tsunami triggered by this earthquake because the Basilan Island and the Santa Cruz Islands served as a buffer and deflected waves.
*************************************
To read more, click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Moro_Gulf_earthquake (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Moro_Gulf_earthquake)
______________________________________
Note the parallelity to the recent event!
:)
The recent Bohol earthquake (Oct 15) and Leyte tsunami (Nov 8) occurred 30 odd years later. The earthquake was the worst in 30 years. And the tsunami was preceded by super-typhoon Yolanda -- one of the worst in history.
Yep. Yolanda was a super-typhoon -- not merely a typhoon -- and, definitely, not simply a storm. ::)
Pack with very strong winds, days beforehand, Yolanda was forecasted as heading towards Bohol. Target was skipper's retirement villa in Ubay. Dunno what skipper did to her. Ask him! >:(
Mao btao wa sya magpakita sa Bohol during his b'day. Hehe :) ;) But he underestimated her fury and strength. ;D ;)
Tungod kai libat c Yolanda, Samar became the epicentre. ;D
Difference is that no typhoon is recorded in the '76 one. As such, whether Yolanda should be considered as a separate event is debatable. Anyway, that's a separate issue.
Whatever, don't believe climate change should be ruled out as one factor contributing to the recent catastrophe. Many worldwide disasters are inferred to climate change.
Unprecedented? ??? What does this mean? That nobody remembered the '76 destruction? Why remiss on this? ??? Between earthquake and tsunami, there was nearly a month to prepare -- certainly, ample time! So, why overwhelming fatalities? ???
Hopefully, no more words like "unaware" or "unprecedented" in future calamities!
:)
-
Why wasn't the Philippines better prepared for the typhoon? Corruption, shoddy buildings to blame
WorldNews 18 Hours ago By Jim Maceda, Correspondent, NBC News
As the Philippines grapples with the devastating aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, Filipinos are asking why the country wasn’t better prepared to deal with the super storm.
Government officials claim they were ready, broadcasting warnings of a potential 20-foot storm surge on the hour, starting two days before the typhoon hit.
Jerry Yaokasin, Tacloban's vice mayor, told Reuters that "some people just didn't believe us because it was so sunny. Some were even laughing." Many local men reportedly stayed in their homes to protect their belongings from looters.
"People were warned about the storm surge," said Toby Monsod, an economics professor at the University of the Philippines in Manila. "Though, many probably thought that it would be one meter high, not five. This storm was off the scales," she told NBC News.
Many are now blaming not just the reportedly 175 mph winds, but the flimsy construction of homes and buildings in the Philippines – and the years of government corruption which prevented the building of anything better.
Shacks instead of reinforced concrete
Antonio Lilles is a residential home builder in Manila who has spent the past week like most Filipinos – glued to his cellphone, accounting for family members and making sure friends and employees are safe.
He's also watched every video clip he could find on TV and YouTube of Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most devastating storms ever to hit land. Lilles says he was shocked to see Alfred Romualdez, the mayor of Tacloban – the worst-hit city within the disaster zone – telling the BBC that he and his family decided to ride out the storm in their sea-level beach house.
"What really angers me is that, if the mayor didn't think seriously about evacuating Tacloban himself, I assume he didn't ask his [220,000] people to evacuate either and seek higher ground," Lilles said. He noticed the rolling hills in the background of many of the apocalyptic images. "Why didn't people, especially car owners, drive up the slopes or away from the coast? It must mean they didn't know about the 15-foot tsunami heading their way, or just didn't care."
Even Monsod admitted that lessons need to be learned if the Philippines is to avoid – or at least limit – such devastating loss during future typhoons. "Historically, Filipinos adapt to the climate," she said. "They get through the storms and rebuild if they have to. But this is not sustainable in the long run."
Recalling the eerie Tacloban images of a few reinforced concrete structures jutting out from a morass of twisted metal and smashed plywood, she said: "We need to invest in technological solutions like low-cost housing with climate-proof materials. We've seen this in places like Guam."
Roberto Lilles, Antonio's older brother and a successful architect, agrees that much of the wreckage from dozens of typhoons that strike each year could be greatly reduced if low-cost, brick-and-mortar housing replaced the traditional flimsy wood and tin-roof homes.
"There is low-cost housing that can resist the storms. But most people in those rural areas are so poor, they still can't afford them," he explained.
But if private builders like the Lilles brothers find low-cost housing schemes unprofitable, why doesn't the Philippine government subsidize them?
In a word: corruption.
History of government corruption
President Benigno Aquino III, known as "Noynoy," the scion of two political families some compare to the Clinton or Bush dynasties, was elected in 2010, above all, to eradicate the endemic corruption that drains some $50 billion a year from state coffers.
He was seen as the only man for the job: his father, Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., was assassinated in a plot by alleged loyalists of then-dictator Ferdinand Marcos; his mother, Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, led the "People Power" revolt that toppled Marcos and became both the nation's first female president and a living symbol of democracy.
But Noynoy Aquino now finds himself implicated in his own "pork barrel" scam. While there's still no smoking gun, Aquino has been accused by association of using more than $500 million in public funds – including money meant for local infrastructure, like roads and bridges, in the very areas that took the brunt of Haiyan – to buy off key senators' loyalty. Last week there were nationally televised hearings on the scandal just as the storm was barreling toward the Philippines.
Aquino has strongly denied the accusations, but his approval rating has plummeted. And critics say the scandal has left him too distracted and on the defensive to deal with the nation’s perennial problems – poor urban planning, an exploding population, climate change and systemic poverty – all contributing factors to the death and destruction left in the super typhoon's wake.
For his part, Aquino stands by his record, telling CNN earlier this week that Haiyan's death toll would have been much higher without his government's evacuation of more than 750,000 people. "But, of course, nobody imagined the magnitude that this super typhoon brought on us," he said.
But it must be said that the roots of the Philippines' losing battle against infamously bad weather long predates this Aquino administration. Imelda Marcos, the larger-than-life former first lady who is notorious for her elaborate shoe collection, hails from Leyte province, ground zero for the storm surge.
But during some 20 years of the Marcos regime, while Leyte was blessed with a massive shrine (where Mrs. Marcos kept her shoes) and a big pink church, no one built low-cost housing or paved roads for the people.
Unnecessary disaster?
Antonio Lilles doesn't deny that Typhoon Haiyan – or Yolanda, as Filipinos call it – was a perfect storm.
"Can you imagine if those winds had hit Manila, with all the scaffolding and construction materials flying around from hundreds of sites?" he asked.
But he bristled at the unnecessary tragedy. "When I built my beach house I used the US NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) storm surge guide for coastal buildings and built the house twice as high as the recommended 17 feet above sea level for storm surges. And then added two more feet for extra measure," he recalled. "It's just common sense and a little research."
For Toby Monsod, the economist, there's no better time than now to do better: "There's no question that Haiyan could have been much less disastrous."
Jim Maceda is an NBC News foreign correspondent who is currently based in London. He lived in Manila and covered Southeast Asia in the 1980's.
***********************************
To view photos and watch videos, click http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/16/21477014-why-wasnt-the-philippines-better-prepared-for-the-typhoon-corruption-shoddy-buildings-to-blame (http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/16/21477014-why-wasnt-the-philippines-better-prepared-for-the-typhoon-corruption-shoddy-buildings-to-blame)
-
Just occurred to me. This modus operandi of o/s Pinoys sending remittances back home without making the recipients accountable is really a form of corruption. :-\ ;)
As John D. Rockefeller said,
"Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it". :) ;)
-
salamat sa info pareng juan..mas grabe sab diay ang panghitabo @ late 70's..OMG!
-
mas maintindihan sana ng mga tao if na declare like tsunami .. hay, yung PAGASA talaga ..
-
It's a dog-eat-dog world, mate!
:) ;)
-
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=546546138757440 (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=546546138757440)
panoorin niyo etong link sa taas. I hope this is not true....PANOORIN NYO TO!
OMG ang BAGYONG YOLANDA ay EXPERIMENT lamang!!!!!!????
USAP-USAPAN na ang super-storm na si "YOLANDA" ay bunga ng eksperimentasyon ng world superpower na US, CHINA,JAPAN AT RUSSIA!!!
Si Yolanda ay ikalawa sa "3 experimental typhoons" na nagmula sa boundary ng Russia at Japan bago umiistasyon sa Guam at mag-landfall at iinog sa ibabaw ng karagatan sa Pilipinas bago dumiretso sa Vietnam at tuluyang matunaw o manghina.
Ang experiment na ito ay binansagan ng ilang eksperto bilang "Microwave pulse typhoon" dahil tinimpla ng mga radar ng malalaking bansa ang temperatura sa atmospera upang makontrol ang RUTA ng super typhoon sa layuning maiiwas ito sa mga bansa na "utak ng eksperimentasyon".
sinasabing ang Bagyong Wilma ay advance party ni "Yolanda" at ng kasunod pang si "Zoraida". ang tatlong bagyong ito, WILMA,YOLANDA AT ZORAIDA ay isang ruta lamang ang tatahakin upang matiyak ng mga superpower na TAGUMPAY ang kanilang experiment.
Ang teritoryo ng pinagmulan ng tatlong bagyo ay siyang teritoryo kung saan nakatayo ang mga sikretong radar at satellite ng Japan, Russia, China at US.
Sa mga interesadong makaalam ng detalye nito ay maaring mag-search sa Google at itype ang link na "Microwave Pulse Gives Birth to Typhoon Haiyan".
Narito po ang isang link na maari niyong saliksikin: NASA-Airborne Science-ER-2 Investigador-Sponsored Instruments...
"AMPR is a scanning passive microwave radiometer operation at frequencies of 10,...on the ER-2 to conduct cloud radiation and severe storm filed experiments".
Nais ng mga malalaking bansa tulad ng US, China at Russia na makatakas sa pananalasa ng mga bagyon tulad ng Hurricane Katrina kaya lumikha sila ng "supertyphoon" na magtutulak o hihigop sa potential storm na nagbabanta sa kanilang teritoryo.
Kumbaga sa vaccine, ang rabies ay kinokontra ng "isa pang rabies" na iniinject sa katawan ng tao.
Ganun din ang bagyo, kokontrahin ang bagyo ng isa pang "man-made typhoon" tulad nina "WILMA, YOLANDA AT ZORAIDA".
HINDI BA KAYO NAGTATAKA KUNG BAKIT NAKATUTOK ANG UN,CNN,US at ang buong daigdig sa RUTA at pwersa ni YOLANDA?
at agad-agad nagpadala ng AYUDA ang malalaking bansa sa DANYOS na nilikha ng kanilang EKSPERIMENTASYON sa klima at kalikasan.
HAARP experiment.
-
that's scary
-
Mao nay wa nila hunahuna ang storm surge kay ang kadtong naa sa bukid gipa adto sa evacuation center which is duol sa dagat.. Pulbos tanan!
Sent from my iPhone5 using Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)
-
mas maintindihan sana ng mga tao if na declare like tsunami .. hay, yung PAGASA talaga ..
Mao nay wa nila hunahuna ang storm surge kay ang kadtong naa sa bukid gipa adto sa evacuation center which is duol sa dagat.. Pulbos tanan!
Sent from my iPhone5 using Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)
Questions came to my mind:
How did the survivors manage do survive? ???
Did they heed the warning and flee beforehand? ???
And escape the onslaught? ???
:-\
-
“TYPHOON AND TIDAL WAVE IN THE PHILIPPINES – 7,000 LIVES LOST”
This is not a headline about the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), but a story from way back; from an Australian broadsheet dated January 12,1898.
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/history-storms-1900s-newspaper-reveals-devastating-leyte-typhoon-134230084.html (http://ph.news.yahoo.com/history-storms-1900s-newspaper-reveals-devastating-leyte-typhoon-134230084.html)
-
WTVY.com Posted: Sun 2:03 AM, Nov 17, 2013
GUIUAN, Philippines (AP) -- The number of human lives lost to Typhoon Haiyan (HY'-ahn) in the central Philippines is becoming clearer.
The Philippines' main disaster agency says the death toll now stands at 3,633 with another 1,179 people listed as missing. Nearly 12,500 people were injured. Most of the casualties occurred on Leyte (LAY'-tay) and Samar islands.
One week after Typhoon Haiyan (HY'-ahn) razed the eastern part of the Philippines, leaving 600,000 homeless, survivors have begun rebuilding, with or without help from their government or foreign aid groups. People swept dirt from the pews of a church in the disaster zone Friday, while the buzzing of chain saws reverberated in the streets and piles of debris were burned.
Meanwhile, the international aid effort is gathering steam, highlighted by the helicopter drops conducted from the American aircraft carrier USS George Washington.
The U.N.'s top humanitarian official says more than 107,000 people have received food assistance so far and 11 foreign and 22 domestic medical teams are in operation.
TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) -- All through her very short life, the parents had squeezed oxygen into her tiny body with a hand-held pump to keep her alive.
In the end, their prayers and whatever little medical care doctors could muster in the typhoon-ravaged hospital were not enough. Althea Mustacia, aged 3 days, died on Saturday.
She was born on Nov. 13, five days after Typhoon Haiyan annihilated a vast swath of the Philippines, killing more than 3,600 people. The storm's aftermath is still claiming victims -- Althea was one of the latest.
A doctor said Sunday that Althea's parents took her away, wrapped in a small bundle.
TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) -- Safe water is a pressing concern for the survivors of the devastating Philippines typhoon.
It's desperately scarce in storm-ravaged parts of the country. Without it, people struggling to rebuild and even survive risk catching intestinal and other diseases that can spread if they're unable to wash properly.
While aid agencies work to provide a steady supply, survivors are resorting to scooping from streams, catching rainwater in buckets and smashing open pipes to obtain what is left from disabled pumping stations. With at least 600,000 people homeless, the demand is massive.
It took several days for aid groups to bring large quantities of water to Tacloban, the eastern Philippine city where the typhoon wreaked its worst destruction. By Friday, tankers were arriving.
Water provisioning should get a big boost with the recent arrival of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which has a distillation plant that can produce 400,000 gallons of fresh water per day.
Britain also is sending a carrier with facilities to produce fresh water.
Filtration systems are now operating in Tacloban and two other towns in Leyte province.
ABOARD THE USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (AP) -- As soon as Navy pilot Matthew Stafford puts his helicopter down in the village of Borongan, he is rushed by dozens of local men who form a line to unload the supplies he has flown in from the USS George Washington aircraft carrier.
On the Philippine islands of Leyte and Samar that were shattered by Typhoon Haiyan, there is no doubt about it: the U.S. military has been a godsend.
But while U.S. military support can be critical when during disasters, staging massive humanitarian relief missions for allies isn't just about being a good neighbor. They can be a strategic and publicity goldmine for U.S. troops whose presence in Asia isn't always portrayed in such a favorable light -- and a powerful warning to countries that aren't on board.
TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) -- Churches in parts of the Philippines destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan are holding Sunday services.
Bells rang out from the badly damaged Santa Nino church in the mostly leveled city of Tacloban.
Marino Caintic says his home was only partially damage and he came to pray and give thanks that all his family survived.
He says "coming to mass gives people hope that things will eventually get better."
More than 80 percent of the 90 million people in the Philippines are Roman Catholic.
The Nov. 8 typhoon killed more than 3,500 people and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of homes.
A major international relief effort is underway to assist survivors.
BEIJING (AP) -- China says it is ready to send rescue and medical teams to the Philippines, one week after a devastating typhoon struck the island nation.
The belated offer published in a statement on the Foreign Ministry's website Sunday follows an extremely modest pledge of less than $2 million in disaster assistance. The small offering has been attributed to spite over a festering dispute with Manila over South China Sea islands claimed by both sides.
In the statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei was quoted as saying that China was monitoring conditions in the Philippines and the emergency teams would depart for the hardest hit areas "should conditions permit."
There was no immediate indication whether the aid teams were preparing to depart or whether the Philippine government had accepted the Chinese offer.
-
“TYPHOON AND TIDAL WAVE IN THE PHILIPPINES – 7,000 LIVES LOST”
This is not a headline about the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), but a story from way back; from an Australian broadsheet dated January 12,1898.
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/history-storms-1900s-newspaper-reveals-devastating-leyte-typhoon-134230084.html (http://ph.news.yahoo.com/history-storms-1900s-newspaper-reveals-devastating-leyte-typhoon-134230084.html)
Compounding the problem now is climate change. Hang on! That's not all. There's also the aging population of engineers and scientists required to tackle climate change. :( :)
-
“TYPHOON AND TIDAL WAVE IN THE PHILIPPINES – 7,000 LIVES LOST”
This is not a headline about the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), but a story from way back; from an Australian broadsheet dated January 12,1898.
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/history-storms-1900s-newspaper-reveals-devastating-leyte-typhoon-134230084.html (http://ph.news.yahoo.com/history-storms-1900s-newspaper-reveals-devastating-leyte-typhoon-134230084.html)
This is true.. Nahitabo na daw kuno ni before.. dapat dili na puy-an ang Tacloban if naay bagyo moabot., evacuate na sa laing province..
-
mao jud na ang saktong buhaton..
-
Mao nay wa nila hunahuna ang storm surge kay ang kadtong naa sa bukid gipa adto sa evacuation center which is duol sa dagat.. Pulbos tanan!
Sent from my iPhone5 using Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)
grabe n talaga nangyayari sa pilipinas...
-
This is true.. Nahitabo na daw kuno ni before.. dapat dili na puy-an ang Tacloban if naay bagyo moabot., evacuate na sa laing province..
ang mga survival lyn kay grabe ang trauma nila. Ang uban gyud kay nag balhin sila manila cebu davao kay di lalim ang ilang naagian
Sent from my GT-S5360 using Tapatalk 2
-
Questions came to my mind:
How did the survivors manage do survive? ???
Did they heed the warning and flee beforehand? ???
And escape the onslaught? ???
:-\
Intriguing!
:-\
-
“What a fine persecution - to be kept intrigued without ever quite being enlightened.”
- Tom Stoppard
:) ;)
-
ang mga survival lyn kay grabe ang trauma nila. Ang uban gyud kay nag balhin sila manila cebu davao kay di lalim ang ilang naagian
Sent from my GT-S5360 using Tapatalk 2
gipang kabuhi ug taman bai...
-
Nice one
-
gipang kabuhi ug taman bai...
kinsay di kabuhion?
-
walay di makabuhi ana lyn..hahaha
-
walay di makabuhi ana lyn..hahaha
ma imagine nako na lunop ug bagyo sabay. Kabuhion gyud ta ani tanan bai
Sent from my GT-S5360 using Tapatalk 2
-
Unmarked graves hinder identification and grieving process, have little effect on disease,experts say
By Amber Hildebrandt, CBC News Posted: Nov 20, 2013 5:04 AM ET Last Updated: Nov 20, 2013 11:10 AM ET
Filipino firemen and emergency workers have spent the past few days in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan filling hastily dug trenches with hundreds of decomposing bodies.
But aid workers say mass graves can complicate the recovery effort by hindering identification and making it difficult for devastated families to locate possible survivors and grieve.
Mass burials began after officials became overwhelmed with hundreds of bodies — many of them unidentified — piling up near places like Tacloban city hall, triggering fears among some that the corpses could spread diseases.
But that fear is unfounded, proven false by numerous studies — a fact that the world’s most reputable health and relief organizations repeatedly try to publicize during such disasters.
"The health risk to the public is negligible," said Catherine Marquis, the Canadian Red Cross’s manager of public health and emergencies. "It is a myth actually. Unfortunately, there’s a misunderstanding about the actual impact of dead bodies after a natural disaster."
If fecal matter leaches into water sources, there’s a small risk of diarrhea - less than that caused by the living - but that can be corrected by disinfecting drinking water and removing corpses from water bodies, health authorities say.
In fact, Marquis suggests the belief that dead bodies can cause epidemics of infectious diseases is one of the most significant and damaging disaster myths.
In this case, not only do the mass burials hinder psychological recovery of survivors, it also complicates recovery efforts because rights to property and assets can't be sorted out without proper identification or a lengthy process to declare a missing person dead.
"This really makes the whole process more complicated unnecessarily," said Ali Asgary, coordinator for York University’s disaster and emergency management program.
'Big, open pit'
Often, after disasters, government officials and early responders rush to gather the dead and bury them several layers deep in graves on the outskirts of town.
In an interview over the weekend with CBC-Radio’s Day 6, a Filipino congressman representing an area that includes the badly hit Tacloban city, suggested many still believe it is the proper solution.
"In some municipalities, they just decided to dig a big open pit and throw in the dead," said Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. "It’s a choice between becoming sick and even dying from the imminent spread of disease from the uncollected bodies."
"In a country such as the Philippines, we are predominantly Roman Catholic. We respect the dead," he added. "But this catastrophe has not lent itself to honouring them at this time."
It’s these types of statements that frustrate disaster experts.
The myth of quick burial is wrong "but it’s commonly accepted," said Asgary, and "creates some sort of community and local pressure to do something about it."
In part, the notion endures because most of the early responders in an emergency like this are typically locals rather than disaster relief experts, and because there is often local pressure to clean up the bodies.
But the International Committee of the Red Cross firmly advises against mass burials following disasters, as does the World Health Organization, saying the act can cause more harm than good.
Rushing to bury the dead makes it harder for survivors and relatives of the deceased to deal with their personal tragedies. Without identification of the body, or knowledge of where it might have been buried, family members don't get closure. Nor can they perform funeral rites.
Also, without identification of bodies, it can take a long time to certify the death of someone considered a missing person in order to transfer properties, pensions and other assets that are needed to rebuild.
So far, the international Red Cross says around 35,000 people within the Philippines and beyond have asked them for help tracing family members who've gone missing since Typhoon Haiyan hit on Nov. 8, killing more than 4,000 people.
In Tacloban, media reports suggest authorities are trying to document whatever information they can about the bodies before bagging them and placing them in a trench. They say the burial is temporary.
Among the information being collected, according to Emmanuel Aranas, deputy director of a police crime lab, is gender, location found, clothing, tissue samples for DNA testing and, where possible, fingerprints. This could help later identification, officials suggest.
However, David Alexander, a professor of risk and disaster reduction at University College London, in the U.K., noted that after the 2004 tsunami hit Southeast Asia, Thai officials resorted to mass burials, then later tried identify the victims only to find that the process was made difficult by the interment.
Interpol announced Tuesday that it is deploying a team, at the request of the Philippines, to help with forensic identification. It's the second disaster where Interpol has helped the disaster-prone country.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has sent a forensic expert to help Filipino authorities properly manage the dead bodies, and said Tuesday that they have now agreed on an emergency plan for doing so, keeping in mind the scarcity of resources.
Mass burials 'rarely warranted'
The WHO does stress that dead bodies need to be moved to a collection point as quickly as possible following a natural disaster to minimize the distress felt at the sight of them, as well as the smell of them decomposing.
Photos of the deceased should be taken and descriptive information written down for each body as they try to identify them, the Red Cross suggests.
But "burials in common graves and mass cremations are rarely warranted and should be avoided," WHO says in a technical note on emergencies.
If there’s no cool location to store the bodies, some experts suggest that they can be temporarily buried since underground is a lower temperature, providing natural refrigeration.
But the burials should be carefully considered, leaving nearly half a metre between bodies, burying them only one layer deep and marking the position of the bodies at ground level, according to a field guide by the WHO’s Pan-American Health Organization.
The trenches in the Philippines contain bodies packed shoulder to shoulder, sometimes two layers deep, according to reports.
Since the late 1990s, experts have waged campaigns to educate the public and the media about misconceptions involving human remains and disease.
In a 2010 study examining the Haiti earthquake, Alexander found that fewer news outlets are spreading the misconception these days, but it was still easy to find articles that continue to suggest bodies could create epidemics.
In fact, few disasters lead to epidemics. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found only eight of 1,000 disasters around the world ended in outbreaks of any sort, and in each case the diseases were already present in the area.
But it’s sometimes hard to educate the public, politicians and journalists in the immediacy of a disaster.
And as Filipino congressman Romualdez noted, both local government and health agencies in the region lost many people to Typhoon Haiyan.
"In Tacloban, from the mayor all the way to casual employees, not a single family has been spared a tragic loss of life and trauma."
***************************
To view photos and watch videos and read comments, click http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/mass-burials-may-complicate-philippines-typhoon-haiyan-recovery-1.2430868 (http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/mass-burials-may-complicate-philippines-typhoon-haiyan-recovery-1.2430868)
-
An interesting comment,
jack miller
great. i totally believe it. but its just top down advice that is great on paper.
these local areas don't have the logistical support to do that if they wanted to. they didn't have the resources to feed the living until outside help came, forget about spending resources on the dead.
when the shtf, you have to do what you have to do.
a suggestion that is too difficult is worse than no suggestion at all because it criticizes people who are really struggling and makes them feel dumped on.
how about starting with a more doable suggestion like "Take a picture of the body with gps on at the location of body pick up and the location of the burial."
-
Thought to ponder,
An interesting comment,
jack miller
great. i totally believe it. but its just top down advice that is great on paper.
these local areas don't have the logistical support to do that if they wanted to. they didn't have the resources to feed the living until outside help came, forget about spending resources on the dead.
when the shtf, you have to do what you have to do.
a suggestion that is too difficult is worse than no suggestion at all because it criticizes people who are really struggling and makes them feel dumped on.
how about starting with a more doable suggestion like "Take a picture of the body with gps on at the location of body pick up and the location of the burial."
Quote from: juan on October 30, 2013, 07:25:13 AM
Rappler by Dean Antonio La Vina and Dr. Kristoffer Berse Posted on 10/20/2013 5:08 PM | Updated 10/21/2013 1:30 PM
In the end, it is up to all Boholanos kababayans back home to own or not a new path of development, one that will keep them, their loved ones and their investments safe from the ravages of nature. – Rappler.com
***************************************************************************
Quote from: juan on October 18, 2013, 12:36:05 PM
Be proactive! Forego crab mentality! Synergize!
:) ;)
***************************************************************************
Is the suggestion above too difficult?
??? :-\
To elaborate, .....
Crab mentality and exhibiting too much dependence on big brother Uncle Sam&o/s Pinoy are 2 deeply-rooted evils in that country. Rather than cultivating, ought to be weeded out and be rid off completely. Been like that even before leaving 30 odd years ago.
Now, confronted with climate change&global warming, it’s having a nightmare tackling the challenges of the century.
:) ;)
-
na samot...
-
samot kabuhion? hehe..
-
Swerte ang Pinas kai naai big brother Uncle Sam and OFW to provide generous aid. Believe the scenario would have been different had it been Vietnam who took the brunt of the calamity. Uncle Sam certainly hasn’t forgotten the humiliating defeat suffered at the end of the Vietnam war. :)
Mao na ang mga tao sa ato nagsalig na lang. 8)
-
daghan jud nagsalig lang..
-
daghan jud nagsalig lang..
mao pud gasalig na pud sila tanan
Sent from my GT-S5360 using Tapatalk 2
-
mao ng daghang pataygutom sa ato. :(
Before leaving Philippines, Singapore was no different from Philippines -- a 3rd world country. But look at Singapore now. :)
-
sa paningkamot lang.
-
paningkamutan..
-
sa paningkamot lang.
paningkamutan..
needless to say. everyone knows that.
As used to tell me, "Paningkamot og maau, Juan! Aron ka maka-abroad". :) ;)
The unspoken words were, "Aron mi magtikang2X na lang pirme". ;D ;)
-
swerte swerte din..
-
swerte swerte din..
Don't disagree. But that's not the point. :)
Goes back to what mentioned elsewhere. Unlike Vietnam, swerte ang Pinas bcoz ....
We're just going in circles, aren't we? :) ;)
-
swerte swerte din..
weathet 2x pud lyn
Sent from my GT-S5360 using Tapatalk 2
-
Possible ways to become rich:
1. Winning big in gambling or lottery. Very2X slim chance;
2. Inheritance. Me came from a reasonably rich family. Been robbed by siblings. Yet to recover. Hehe :) ;) ;
3. Marry a rich girl. Speaking for myself, at my age, don't need the money. But will rule out that she's after money; ;)
4. Work for it. Ability + Hard Work + Luck and will get there. :) ;)
-
Lets pray
-
pray lang jud ta
-
Mao jud. ..
-
sana di nila makalimutan ang Bohol :(
-
sana di nila makalimutan ang Bohol :(
sana nga
Sent from my GT-S5360 using Tapatalk 2
-
just do it!
-
kaya ako continue pa din ang spread ng awareness about helping Bohol
-
daghan jud nagsalig lang..
What made you say this? Personal experience? ??? :) ;)
-
parang ikaw din ba parang Juan?
-
Speaking for myself only. Dunno about others, like her. Hehehe. :) ;)
-
huh...
-
Tempo Nov. 28 by Ronald Constantino
NEW TOWN HERO – One of the heartwarming stories about supertyphoon Yolanda came out in Manila Bulletin last week. Titled “Yolanda turns bullies’ whipping boy into hero,” written by Aaron B. Recuenco from Tolosa, Leyte. The feature tells of the heroism of 23-year-old Biboy Kaunti, who saved a family of three from drowning at the height of the typhoon.
Biboy was everybody’s errand boy, living in subhuman condition, the laughing stock and whipping boy of the town’s bullies.
But after his heroic act, in the process nearly losing his life, Biboy is now the town’s hero. Even the mayor praised him.
TV DRAMA – Highspeed suggests that one of the leading television networks – ABS-CBN, TV5, and GMA – dramatize the heroism of Biboy Kaunti in consultation with Bulletin reporter Aaron B. Recuenco.
Surely, there are other acts of heroism in places devastated by Yolanda, heartwarming and inspiring stories. Perhaps ABS-CBN could feature them in “Maalaala Mo Kaya” and GMA in “Magpakialanman.”
TV5 has no drama anthology, so why not a special titled “Heroes of Yolanda”?
HEARTHBREAKING SCENES – But then there are also hearthbreaking scenes captured on television and in print.
To this day these heartbreakers are etched on my mind.
A young father carrying the dead body of his six-year-old daughter. He was dazed and confused, not knowing what to do or say, walking aimlessly.
A mother lost her husband and six children. She’s found the bodies of her husband and three children, but was still looking for the bodies of her three other children.
Anderson Cooper of CNN asked the mother where she’d sleep that night. Her barely audible answer, “On the street. I don’t know.”
Grief was mirrored on her face.
GOD BLESS – It’s heartwarming to hear that the whole wide world came – is coming – to the rescue of Yolanda victims in the Visayas and Palawan.
The Americans are back in Leyte. In the ’40s, led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, they same to liberate Filipinos. Now US soldiers are saving lives, feeding the hungry, ministering to the sick.
Incidentally, the American landing memorial in Palo (town next to Tacloban) remains standing. Not even the strong winds and storm surge could destroy the statues of General MacArthur and company, among them President Sergio Osmeña and Carlos P. Romulo.
God bless America and all the countries helping Tacloban and the rest of the Visayas rise again. Also the beloved Philippines, for once united in helping countrymen in their sad plight.
**********************************************
Wa jyud mo-mention sa mga o/s Pinoys!!!!!
:-[
Disgusting!!!!!
>:(
Anyone interested in commenting?
???
click http://entertainment.tempo.com.ph/2013/11/typhoon-yolanda-aftermath-heartwarming-heartbreaking/ (http://entertainment.tempo.com.ph/2013/11/typhoon-yolanda-aftermath-heartwarming-heartbreaking/)
:(
A very well written post to inform those ungrateful bigots back home the plight of the overseas Pinoy. The hardships he has to go through for their sake. The descrimination he has to endure.
Been like that even before left the Phil 30 yrs ago. For them, he toiled the sweatshops. He worked till his hands are raw so that they might live a better life.
And, after long hard years of struggle and sacrifice, when he goes home to retire, he is treated as 2nd class to the puti. Subjected to abuses like being called dom with lecherous inclination.
Yes, mate, wanna change things for the better? Start with that God-forsaken country called Phil. Been wallowing in colonial mentality since Magellan landed in Cebu City. Exhibiting too much dependence on the overseas Pinoy.
And ... BEST OF LUCK! :) ;) :D ;D
-
sobrang drama talaga pag nasa media
-
By Maxxy Santiago, ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau
Posted at 07/24/2013 4:03 PM | Updated as of 07/24/2013 7:35 PM
KUWAIT CITY - Overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East joined other Filipinos across the globe on Monday in watching the fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Benigno Aquino III.
The SONA that lasted for almost two hours outlined the achievements of the administration and the current state of the country and the Filipinos.
Most of the OFWs in the Middle East turned to The Filipino Channel for the live coverage of the SONA while others who were at work watched the free live-streaming on their computers as they waited patiently from President Aquino to say something that would benefit over 10 million OFWs in various parts of the world.
But, to their great dismay, the president only lauded Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and said nothing more about the millions of Filipinos abroad.
“Bakit naman ganun? Pang-apat na SONA na ni Pangulong Aquino ito pero ganun pa rin nakalimutan pa rin niya tayong mga OFWs. Hindi ba niya iniisip ang ating malaking contribution sa ekonomiya ng bansa,” said Dorie Antiporda who has been working as a master cutter for 13 years now in Kuwait. She has been planning to go home for good but after watching the SONA, she decided to stay.
“Wala pa rin akong nakikitang pagbabago. Bilang isang OFW, hindi ko pa rin nararamadaman ang sinasabi ng Pangulo na pagbabago,” pointed out Raymond Hubahib, a staff in one of the biggest haute couture shops in Kuwait.
The remittances from the OFWs have kept the Philippine economy afloat despite the global economic crisis. According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, land-based workers sent $6.7 billion, while seafarers contributed $2.1 billion as of May this year. Personal remittances from Filipinos abroad reached $23.8 billion in 2012, an all-time high.
"I watched SONA. I am impressed! Sorry sa mga anti-PNoy...na-carried ako sa dami ng accomplishments...1 hour & 45 minutes in Tagalog...ok lang din! It's more fun to invest in the Philippines now. Why not? True naman sa taas ng GDP growth rate of 6.5% in 2012 to 7.8% in 1st Quarter 2013...Gross National Income of 5.7% to 6.1%...wala munang kokontra...Invest na...ang saya-saya na,” pointed out Necie de Asis, a CPA and former President of PICPA-EP-KSA in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
Most OFWs in Saudi Arabia share the same dissatisfaction on the President’s SONA especially among Filipino Community leaders who have been helping distressed OFWs.
"Medyo dismayado lang ako sa SONA ni PNoy dahil apat na taon po akong nag-aabang na kung anong plano o programa ng pamahalaang Aquino para sa mga OFW at bilang volunteer ng PEBA ay marami kaming nakikita ng problema lalung-lalo na dito sa tent city sa Saudi Arabia at minamaltrato sa Kuwait, Kahit hindi man nya na-mention ang OFW nitong mga nakaraang SONA at sa pinakabagong SONA sana po may magagawa rin po siya para sa mga OFW,” said Jebee Solis of Pinoy Expats/Blog Awards in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“Sana man lang binigyan ng Pangulong Aquino ng pansin kaming mga OFWs lalung-lalo na ang mga undocumented at distressed OFWS dito sa Saudi Arabia na umaasa ng tulong nya. Kami rin ay may malaking naiambag sa ekonomiya ng ating bansa," said Bong Retuya of Rama Modern in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
On the other hand, some gave the President a passing mark as they lauded him for eradicating corruption and instituting various reforms in government offices.
“Nakita ko po talagang buong puso ang kanyang pagsalita at nakikita naman na marami siyang nagawa at nakikita naman sa kanyang pananalita na gagawin at gagawin talaga niya nang buong puso ang lahat para maayos ang ating bansa. Lalung-lalo na ang mga corrupt na wawalisin niya,” Marshall Caballero who has been working as a foreman in Doha, Qatar, for 21 years now.
“I am proud to be Filipino with all my heart because we have a leader like him. I hope everyone realizes that he needs our help by supporting him as well criticizing his government to be better. Never felt so proud to be Filipino till today and can't wait for the time that we can all go home and work and be well in our own country,” said Gian Carlo Pacheco, an IT executive in Kuwait.
“Marami rin namang nagawang kabutihan si President Aquino. Di naman pwede baguhin ang sistema ng isang kisap-mata lang. Ginagawa naman niya ang lahat ng kanyang makakaya. At least sa administration niya, nakakabili pa ng mga eroplano at barko para sa military pero nong nakaraang administrasyon, sila pa ang nagbebenta ng overpriced na mga lumang helicopter. Magtulungan na lang tayo,” said Rey Santos, a research analyst in one of the food companies in Kuwait.
sobrang drama talaga pag nasa media
You miss my point, mate.
To be blunt, this begs the question, "Where did the MG Charity money go"? ??? 8) ::)
Unless people back home (not friends or clan members) say it loud and clear, you become vulnerable to suspicion. :o ;)
Once again, the word is ACCOUNTABILITY. ;)
Reason find this article disgusting. Bcoz no mention of o/s Pinoys contributing, gives impression that the o/s Pinoys donated nothing. >:(
And why not friends or clan members? 'coz me's gonna say, "Ahhhh! Alam ko na! Went to buy tart's 3K pairs of shoes and the multi million $ retirement villa that Yolanda took". ;D ;)
Like what my siblings said, "Oh, yes, your share of the inheritance is intact. Waiting for you to come and sign the paper work and get the money". Replied, "Not too fast. Send me copies of sales docs first. So I can calculate my rightful share". Dili nila ihatag. Hehe :) ;)
The name of the game is: Bluff Domino. ;D ;D ;D
-
Yes, skipper! People back home aren't interested in our plight.
They're only interested in our remittances.
Even the president has forgotten us in his SONA.
:(
Even the president is taking our contributions for granted.
No need to mention.
Recall him mentioning about donations coming from o/s Pinoys? ???
:-[ ::)
"some people live with the fear of a touch,
And the anger of having been a fool.
They will not listen to anyone,
So nobody tells them a lie."
- excerpt from Billy Joel's "An Innocent Man"
:) ;)
-
oi...
-
Just like that
-
dapat palitan na yan kasi nakakahiya na
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/30/tuvyguju.jpg)
-
dami paring problema.
-
huh...
napa huh ka na lang diyan Wardz? hehe..
-
nasayang lang mga perang naibigay sa gobyerno
-
Lets pray
Let's pray 1 million Our Father so manna from heaven will rain down on Central Visayas.
:)
-
An Innocent Man
By Billy Joel
Some people stay far away from the door
If there's a chance of it opening up
They hear a voice in the hall outside
And hope that it just passes by
Some people live with the fear of a touch
And the anger of having been a fool
They will not listen to anyone
So nobody tells them a lie
I know you're only protecting yourself
I know you're thinking of somebody else
Someone who hurt you
But I'm not above
Making up for the love
You've been denying you could ever feel
I'm not above doing anything
To restore your faith if I can
Some people see through the eyes of the old
Before they ever get a look at the young
I'm only willing to hear you cry
Because I am an innocent man
I am an innocent man
Oh yes I am
Some people say they will never believe
Another promise they hear in the dark
Because they only remember too well
They heard somebody tell them before
Some people sleep all alone every night
Instead of taking a lover to bed
Some people find that it's easier to hate
Than to wait anymore
I know you don't want to hear what I say
I know you're gonna keep turning away
But I've been there and if I can survive
I can keep you alive
I'm not above going through it again
I'm not above being cool for a while
If you're cruel to me I'll understand
Some people run from a possible fight
Some people figure they can never win
And although this is a fight I can lose
The accused is an innocent man
I am an innocent man
Oh yes I am
An innocent man
You know you only hurt yourself out of spite
I guess you'd rather be a martyr tonight
That's your decision
But I'm not below
Anybody I know
If there's a chance of resurrecting a love
I'm not above going back to the start
To find out where the heartache began
Some people hope for a miracle cure
Some people just accept the world as it is
But I'm not willing to lay down and die
Because I am an innocent man
I am an innocent man
Oh yes I am
An innocent man
:(
-
The Washington Post By Max Fisher November 11 at 3:57 pm
The typhoon that tore through the Philippines on Friday threw the country into such turmoil that, days later, public officials are reporting wildly different death tolls. The government disaster relief agency announced 229 killed, the army reported 942 and local officials in the devastated provence of Leyte went as high as 10,000. But none are much more than estimates, given that emergency workers still can't reach some of the worst-affected areas. By every indication, the Philippine government is doing all it can to respond. But the fact that its officials and agencies have not even come together on the death toll, much less a national effort to serve the hundreds of thousands reportedly displaced, highlights just how badly the country was caught off guard by the storm's destruction.
Why wasn't the Philippines more ready? About 20 tropical cyclones hit the country every year, making it practically a routine. The arrival of typhoon Haiyan was certainly no surprise. Yet supposedly storm-proof shelters were destroyed and foreseeably necessary relief efforts have failed to come together. The single most important factor may be that, quite simply, this storm was just too big; with winds well beyond 200 miles per hour and sea levels surging across coastal communities, no country could absorb it unharmed. But the Philippines seems to have been particularly ill-suited to deal with this crisis.
One of clearest explanations for the Philippines' unpreparedness may, sadly, also be one of the most difficult to address: its poverty. The country is ranked 165th in the world by GDP per capita, just below the Republic of Congo. One result is that many homes are modestly constructed of light materials like wood. Another is that the government has fewer resources to invest in infrastructure that could resist natural disasters and be used for relief efforts. Three days after the storm, the devastated city of Tacloban remained almost inaccessible; aid workers said it took six hours to make the 14-mile round trip ferrying supplies between the airport and the city center. Officials warn that telecommunications and power could be offline for days, weeks or even months, slowing rescue efforts.
The Philippines' challenges, though, go beyond just the size of the national treasury. After all, developing countries such as China often invest heavily in infrastructure, plowing money into such projects to spur economic growth. The Philippines' political system, though, can make centralized governance difficult. Owing to the country's remarkable diversity -- more than 100 languages are spoken, including eight recognized regional languages -- local and provincial governments can have a degree of autonomy. That helps with political stability, but it makes it tougher for the central government to push through big infrastructure development, or to organize a national response once disaster strikes. This may help explain why, as of Monday, the government had provided just three military transport planes to bring supplies in to Tacloban and to evacuate refugees, though the coastal city is the country's hardest-hit.
The Philippine military is also struggling, in Tacloban and elsewhere, to simply establish order. Looting has gotten so bad so quickly that relief groups say their convoys have come under attack. This may be an extension of the country's ongoing struggle with crime, which has grown so severe that the government was losing control of public order long before the storm hit. In a radio interview earlier this year, Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II conceded, "I am, like everyone else, also alarmed that despite the measures taken by the Philippine National Police, including checkpoints and others, these criminals are trying to challenge the government."
The apparent fear that the Philippine government would be unable to provide or police may be self-reinforcing, making criminals and non-criminals alike more likely to loot if they believe the state won't come through. It may also help explain why a number of families in the worst-hit areas reportedly ignored the warnings and stayed in their homes. Reportedly, many feared that the state would be unable to protect their homes from looters, leading them to try to do it themselves.
Contrast the Philippines' experience with typhoons to Japan's, with earthquakes. For centuries, the country was nearly helpless against its regular quakes; more than 140,000 people were killed when one hit outside Tokyo in 1923. Today, the country is engineered practically from the ground up to withstand them. Large buildings are fortified with elaborate hydraulic systems; many homes are networked with alarms that sound in case of an offshore quake that could bring a tsunami. Civilians drill since early childhood on the proper response. When the 2011 quake hit, despite the damage, only 25 of the country's 170 emergency response hospitals were knocked offline even temporarily. Because people felt they could count on the government to come through, nearly all civilians complied with evacuation orders and hardly any looted. Within two days, for all their failings at responding to the Fukushima nuclear crisis, Japanese officials had successfully evacuated half a million people and deployed 100,000 troops, 190 planes, 45 boats, 120,000 blankets, and 110,000 liters of gasoline.
In many ways, the preparedness gap between Japan and the Philippines does, unfortunately, come down to money. Infrastructure is expensive; so are national preparedness programs and the sort of military that can mobilize so widely and so quickly. But the difference also gets to more elusive factors, about a government's power to not just deploy helicopters and clear roads but to earn its society's trust and, at the right moments, its compliance.
-
Unable to Stop the Chaos, Local Leaders Oversee Plunder, Urge Shops to Donate Goods
The WallStreet Journal By Kate O'Keeffe and Paul Baylis Dec. 2, 2013 4:00 a.m. ET
GUIUAN, Philippines—In the critical hours after Typhoon Haiyan slammed into this seaside town, local leaders devised an unorthodox plan for managing the chaos. With limited police resources and security breaking down, they said they suggested some businesses donate their goods to the town before their shops were looted so authorities could hand out the supplies to people in need themselves.
In one other case, they agreed to oversee looting that was already in progress and helped distribute the shop's contents to desperate townspeople.
Now those decisions are generating intense criticism from business leaders and residents who say the government should have taken a firmer line, ensuring private property was protected. They say the local moves set a precedent that it is acceptable for people to go after private goods, and that leaders should have been better prepared—including pushing harder to get more military reinforcements from the national government before the storm struck.
"It's a small town. It's not hard to manage," said Arturo "Chin Chin" Goteesan, the 50-year-old owner of a local cable television and Internet provider and an electronics shop called Goteesan General Merchandise. He blamed the local mayor and police chief for the looting and said the only reason his store escaped unscathed was because it was closed and locked up, whereas other shops that were looted were still open for business.
"Now any typhoon will be an excuse to loot," said Susan Tan, whose late grandfather founded the Viva Commercial grocery store, which was looted in the aftermath of the storm.
The local mayor, 33-year-old Christopher "Sheen" Gonzales, in an interview dismissed the critics and said the town had little choice but to take over some private property and allow some looting because of the lack of security personnel on hand.
"Of course the businesses didn't like it," he said of his proposal. But he said it was the only way. "There are hundreds of businesses here. They're asking me to put one policeman at every store. It's impossible," he said.
The criticism from business owners echoes complaints in other cities across parts of the central Philippines where looting broke out and police either stood by or didn't show up to prevent breakdowns of law and order. Those failures have led to widespread debates about how best to handle such situations in any future storms.
But the criticism is especially surprising in Guiuan because Mr. Gonzales has been feted as a hero of the Haiyan typhoon. In the days after the disaster, he was widely praised for his management, including by Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, who said Guiuan seemed especially well-prepared and organized.
"The president will not congratulate you, the secretaries will not congratulate you, the people will not thank you if you don't do it right," said Mr. Gonzales. "I did everything right."
Large-scale looting started two days after the typhoon swept across this town of 47,000 on the southeastern tip of Samar island. At the time, the town had only a handful of security personnel, even as groups of looters numbering in the hundreds, some of them armed, began to emerge looking for food and other supplies, authorities and residents said.
One of the looters' first targets was the Novo department store, the town's largest retailer, located near the town center.
Among the looters was 18-year-old Jonathon Badilla, who had arrived by boat from the nearby island of Manicani. Hearing that Novo was being looted, Mr. Badilla and his group made their way there at about 9 a.m., he said in an interview two weeks later. At Novo Mr. Badilla said he found more than 100 people, some armed with long knives, removing goods from the store. He saw only one policeman trying to keep order, but otherwise not interfering. Mr. Badilla said he took alcoholic drinks, medicine and biscuits, as well as beauty cream that he later gave to a female cousin.Efforts to locate the owners of Novo weren't successful.
After the looting at Novo, the police chief and town officials said some businesspeople asked the government for protection. The mayor said he instead proposed the businesses donate their merchandise to the town for redistribution. Under the plan, security personnel would transport shop owners' goods to the municipal hall and ultimately distribute the merchandise to needy townspeople without compensation to businesses.
In return, the town's military and police would do what they could to try to protect the donors' stores, according to Maj. Ramil Amodia, the police chief. The thinking was that once goods were out of the stores, looters would have less reason to attack them and cause damage.
Maj. Amodia said he agreed with the plan. He said that he and one other colleague were the only two police officers without local families to tend to. "If there had been more army and police, we could have stopped the looting," he said.
Later Sunday, with Novo cleaned out, the looters turned their attention to the nearby Mercury Drug Store, according to looters and officials. The manager asked the police to help distribute goods to looters on the spot, according to Maj. Amodia. The chief agreed, but the next day, while the two officers on hand took a break to eat breakfast, people attacked the store again to get what remained, he said.
A representative for Mercury Drug said Nov. 21 the company was assessing the damage done to its Guiuan branch. The company didn't return requests for an update on the situation.
On Tuesday, looters ransacked Ms. Tan's Viva Commercial, even though she had requested extra protection on Sunday, she said. That night, hoping to salvage an attached warehouse, Ms. Tan decided to take the mayor up on his suggestion and agreed to donate the remaining merchandise. Officials took three truckloads of her goods to the municipal hall, but the next day, Wednesday, seeing her place unguarded, looters struck again, she said.
Another grocery store in the center of town, Pia Commercial, was among the only major stores to avoid looting. Maritass Abuedo, 46, a relative of Pia Commercial's owners, said that was because Reynaldo Anda, the owner's 42-year-old son, requested protection from officials on Sunday, promising to donate all goods to the town hall that day. The police chief confirmed Pia's request for help and willingness to donate the goods.
Mr. Anda and the owner weren't in Guiuan and couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Town councilor Cornelio Carlo "Tom Tom" Sison, a member of a political party in opposition to the mayor, said Mr. Gonzales had already suggested talking to the businesspeople to ask them to open their shops again. Mr. Sison said he warned the mayor that it might be too soon to make such a request.
Write to Write to Kate O'Keeffe at [email protected]@wsj.com and Paul Baylis at [email protected]
-
OMG!
-
OMG talaga!
-
Gosh
-
For charity, rather than raise the Philippine flag, prefer to raise something else.
::) 8)
"The measure for love is the capacity to sacrifice".
:D ;)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/r90/1002129_10200097306424109_286728516_n.jpg)
Miss Baclayon & Miss Great Minds
For the typhoon victims' sake, strongly urge skipper and Brew enjoin me to launch this joint venture.
:D ;)
The god in me and the beast in me
And all deep things come up to light;
And I would barter my soul to be
The prize of love for a single night.... :-* ;)
~George Sylvester Viereck, "Love Triumphant"
-
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/r90/1002129_10200097306424109_286728516_n.jpg)
wow Pham ikaw ning naa sa right?
-
Haha pagsure wards...
Sent from my S100 using Tapatalk
-
Sana wala na toh
-
Henceforth, are we going to expect this looting scenario everytime there's a calamity? ???
Considering that ravages of nature will recur more often due to climate change&global warming, then, wala ng pag-asa. :(
-
10 years to recover
-
Ang tindi talaga..
-
10 years to recover
Assuming no Yolanda, or something even worse, ravaging in the not to distant future -- very optimistic. Bopha happened last year. ::) 8)
Also, assuming funds allocated won't be looted. Hehe :) ;)
-
Yeah ryt
-
Naggawas ra mga donations whew
Sent from my iPhone5 using Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)
-
Arang!
-
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=546546138757440 (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=546546138757440)
panoorin niyo etong link sa taas. I hope this is not true....PANOORIN NYO TO!
OMG ang BAGYONG YOLANDA ay EXPERIMENT lamang!!!!!!????
USAP-USAPAN na ang super-storm na si "YOLANDA" ay bunga ng eksperimentasyon ng world superpower na US, CHINA,JAPAN AT RUSSIA!!!
Si Yolanda ay ikalawa sa "3 experimental typhoons" na nagmula sa boundary ng Russia at Japan bago umiistasyon sa Guam at mag-landfall at iinog sa ibabaw ng karagatan sa Pilipinas bago dumiretso sa Vietnam at tuluyang matunaw o manghina.
Ang experiment na ito ay binansagan ng ilang eksperto bilang "Microwave pulse typhoon" dahil tinimpla ng mga radar ng malalaking bansa ang temperatura sa atmospera upang makontrol ang RUTA ng super typhoon sa layuning maiiwas ito sa mga bansa na "utak ng eksperimentasyon".
sinasabing ang Bagyong Wilma ay advance party ni "Yolanda" at ng kasunod pang si "Zoraida". ang tatlong bagyong ito, WILMA,YOLANDA AT ZORAIDA ay isang ruta lamang ang tatahakin upang matiyak ng mga superpower na TAGUMPAY ang kanilang experiment.
Ang teritoryo ng pinagmulan ng tatlong bagyo ay siyang teritoryo kung saan nakatayo ang mga sikretong radar at satellite ng Japan, Russia, China at US.
Sa mga interesadong makaalam ng detalye nito ay maaring mag-search sa Google at itype ang link na "Microwave Pulse Gives Birth to Typhoon Haiyan".
Narito po ang isang link na maari niyong saliksikin: NASA-Airborne Science-ER-2 Investigador-Sponsored Instruments...
"AMPR is a scanning passive microwave radiometer operation at frequencies of 10,...on the ER-2 to conduct cloud radiation and severe storm filed experiments".
Nais ng mga malalaking bansa tulad ng US, China at Russia na makatakas sa pananalasa ng mga bagyon tulad ng Hurricane Katrina kaya lumikha sila ng "supertyphoon" na magtutulak o hihigop sa potential storm na nagbabanta sa kanilang teritoryo.
Kumbaga sa vaccine, ang rabies ay kinokontra ng "isa pang rabies" na iniinject sa katawan ng tao.
Ganun din ang bagyo, kokontrahin ang bagyo ng isa pang "man-made typhoon" tulad nina "WILMA, YOLANDA AT ZORAIDA".
HINDI BA KAYO NAGTATAKA KUNG BAKIT NAKATUTOK ANG UN,CNN,US at ang buong daigdig sa RUTA at pwersa ni YOLANDA?
at agad-agad nagpadala ng AYUDA ang malalaking bansa sa DANYOS na nilikha ng kanilang EKSPERIMENTASYON sa klima at kalikasan.
HAARP experiment.
nawani ko ani dah
-
may punto din...
-
ingon bitaw sila..
-
oist...
-
unsa man Wardz?
-
Lucky Chinese Year of the Horse begins Jan. 31
By Long Hwa-shu For Sun-Times Media January 24, 2014 5:06PM
The New Year didn’t start out quite right for you? Try the Chinese New Year for a second chance.
It’s the Year of the Horse, which falls on Jan. 31 on the lunar calendar. A lucky year, according to the Chinese. The Year of the Horse kicks out the Year of the Snake — not a good year considering all the turmoil, conflicts and tragedies in the world. [Ay nako! Have you forgotten wardz vicious gf, Yolanda?] ???
As the Chinese say, “A good horse never turns its head to eat the grass behind.” So, look ahead, not back.
Horse people may be a little untamed [That's great for a Filipino lass! We'll have rodeo every night] :-* ;), but they are supposed to be popular, cheerful, talented, independent and skillful with their money. Don’t forget that a horse shoe is a sign of good luck for Westerners. [Any Filipino Horse lass interested in a male Tiger? A perfect match! Yep. That's me.] :-* ;)
You are a horse if you were born in 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002 and, of course, in 2014 on or after Jan. 31. The Chinese zodiac runs a 12-year cycle with each year symbolized by an animal. Besides the exiting snake and the horse galloping toward you, the others are sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, pig, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit and dragon.
By the way, horse is pronounced “ma” in Chinese. Among famous horse people are Billy Graham, Nelson Mandela, Angela Merkel, Clint Eastwood, Teddy Roosevelt, Chopin and Rembrandt.
Johnny Lin, chef at Asian Gourmet in Gurnee, and his wife, Anne Chen, manager at the restaurant, both are horse people.
Asked how it feels to be a horse, he said, “We work hard like horses and oxen.”
The Chinese New Year is celebrated not only in China but in most East Asia. With China growing in wealth and influence, anyone doing business with the Chinese probably have learned to say “Xin nian kuai le,” Happy New Year, and “Gong xi fa cai,” May you be prosperous.
In China, the New Year is celebrated as a holiday from three to 15 days, depending where one works. The private sector is more liberal by giving employees a longer holiday. Unlike in the United States where stores offer big sales during a holiday, in China, stores generally are closed for three days during the new year, called the Spring Festival, to allow employees to go home for family reunions. Railroad stations, bus terminals and airports are invariably jammed with travelers carrying gifts for home.
The Chinese New Year celebration revolves around serious eating, often accompanied by drinking. It is not unusual to see 10 to 12 dishes at a family reunion table.
Firecrackers will explode during the holiday, especially at night, to rid evil spirits. As experienced by this writer and his wife, who spent New Year in Nanjing in eastern China last year, firecrackers exploded throughout the night. There was no use complaining because no one wanted to spoil the fun, much less challenge the age-old tradition.
The 15th day of the New Year is the Lantern Festival when kids play with papier mache lanterns, which come in shapes like lotus, rabbit, tiger and dragon. No one in China will pass the day without eating dumplings. It’s an irresistibly delicious tradition.
-
unsa man Wardz?
But. of course, his vicious gf, Yolanda! ;D ;)