Typhoon Haiyan: Hundreds feared dead in Philippines Hundreds of people are feared dead in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan swept through on Friday. Among the worst hit areas were the eastern island of Leyte and the coastal city of Tacloban, which saw buildings flattened in a storm surge. First reports said 100 bodies had been found there but the Red Cross later estimated a figure of more than 1,000. Reports suggest another 200 may have died in Samar province, the Red Cross said. Typhoon Haiyan - one of the most powerful storms on record to make landfall - is now bearing down on Vietnam, where tens of thousands are being evacuated. The BBC Weather Centre says the typhoon is expected to make landfall late on Sunday local time (between 03:00 and 09:00 GMT), although it will have decreased markedly in strength. Storm surges The latest report from the Philippines Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council confirmed 138 deaths as of 10:00 GMT on Saturday. It said almost 350,000 people had been reported displaced. Sandra Conception: Most people hid in their closets because their roof tops had been blown off The Philippines Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla flew to Leyte by helicopter and viewed the devastated fishing town of Palo. He said he believed hundreds of people had died just in that area. Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, said it had received preliminary reports by Red Cross teams in Tacloban and Samar. She told LiveWirezRadio news agency the teams had estimated more than 1,000 bodies floating in Tacloban. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote We escaped through the windows and I held on to a pole for about an hour as rain, seawater and wind swept through” Efren Nagrama Tacloban airport manager In Samar, about 200 deaths. Validation is ongoing, she said. Video from Tacloban showed it engulfed by a storm surge. One resident, Sandy Torotoro, told Associated Press he was swept away when his house was ripped from its moorings. When we were being swept by the water, many people were floating and raising their hands and yelling for help. But what can we do? We also needed to be helped, he said. Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said after landing in Tacloban: The devastation is, I dont have the words for it... Its really horrific. Its a great human tragedy. The airport has been badly damaged and only military flights are able to operate, the BBCs Jon Donnison reports from Manila. John Andrews, deputy head of the Civil Aviation Authority, said he had been told of more than 100 bodies around Tacloban airport, with at least 100 more people injured. Airport manager Efren Nagrama said: It was like a tsunami. We escaped through the windows and I held on to a pole for about an hour as rain, seawater and wind swept through the airport. Some of my staff survived by clinging to trees. Local TV journalists said they had seen 20 bodies in a church in Palo, 10km (six miles) south of Tacloban. View of devastation in the city of Tacloban - 9 November The city of Tacloban was one of the worst-hit areas Storm damage in Tacloban. 9 Nov 2013 Tacloban residents gathered at the devastated airport for relief supplies Cars swept into a rice field in Tacloban. 9 Nov 2013 Cars and motorcycles were swept into a rice field Typhoon seen from the International Space Station. 9 Nov 2013 Astronaut Karen Nyberg on the International Space Station took this image of the storm Coastal community in Iloilo, 9 Nov Coastal communities in Iloilo suffered badly in the typhoon Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, head of a UN disaster assessment co-ordination team, said there was destruction on a massive scale in Tacloban. There are cars thrown like tumbleweed and the streets are strewn with debris. The last time I saw something of this scale was in the aftermath of the [2004] Indian Ocean tsunami. Communications to some of the worst-hit areas were cut off when the storm hit and it may be days before the final death toll and the full extent of the damage is known. Some 15,000 troops have been deployed to the disaster zones. However, rescuers are struggling to get to remote areas, hampered by debris and damaged roads. As darkness fell on Saturday, many areas were without electricity. Jim Pe, deputy mayor of Coron town on the island of Busuanga, said most houses and buildings there had been destroyed or damaged. The typhoon is expected to make landfall on Sunday as Chris Fawkes reports Speaking by phone, he said five people drowned in the storm surge and three others were missing. It was like a 747 [jet] flying just above my roof, he said. The storm made landfall shortly before dawn on Friday, bringing gusts that reached 379km/h (235 mph), with waves as high as 15m (45ft), bringing up to 400mm (15.75 inches) of rain in places. 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. In the typhoons path were areas already struggling to recover from a deadly 7.3-magnitude earthquake last month, including the island of Bohol, where about 5,000 people are still living in tents. Britains ambassador to the Philippines, Asif Ahmad, said on Saturday that a team of humanitarian experts would be sent by the UK to assess needs and then mobilise resources. The head of the EUs delegation to the Philippines, Guy Ledoux, had earlier told local media that the EU was also sending a humanitarian aid team. Internet giant Google produced an interactive crisis map showing evacuation shelters, command posts and medical centres. Vietnam evacuation The typhoon is now heading for Vietnam. The BBC Weather Centre says sustained wind speeds at landfall are currently forecast to be in the region of 75-80 mph (120-130 km/h), with gusts up to 115 mph. Evacuation in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Nam, 9 Nov Authorities are evacuating more than 200,000 people in central Vietnam Authorities there have begun the mass evacuation of more than 200,000 people. State media report that schools are being closed and people living in low-lying coastal areas are being moved to typhoon shelters on higher ground. Shipping has also been ordered back to port. Some 170,000 soldiers have been mobilised to provide emergency relief. Two other typhoons - Wutip and Nari - have hit central Vietnam recently, causing widespread damage. Michael Annear, Red Cross representative for Vietnam, told AFP: Typhoon Haiyan is two or three times more powerful... Were expecting a lot of wind damage... especially for those who repaired their houses themselves after Wutip and Nari.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 15:03:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015