A Reader From The Philippines Talks About Typhoon Haiyan

There are lots of readers of the site who live in the Philippines. One of those, who comments under trainrides has been a long time reader and has sent in her photo to reader photos in the past. I asked her to write a few paragraphs about her experience in dealing with Typhoon Haiyan. When you read about the woman scheduled for surgery who had to swim to safety from her hospital room, you realize just how serious this all was.

On the morning of November 8, when Typhoon Haiyan first made a landfall in Guiuan, Eastern Samar (my birthplace and where a majority of my relatives still live), I was home safe and dry here in Manila, only slightly worried and silently praying that Guiuan and the rest of the region would make it okay. Born and raised in the Eastern Visayas (central part of the Philippines facing the Pacific), I'm used to typhoons battering our province. Typhoons are a "normal" part of life. We have been warned that this was a super typhoon but no one was prepared for the scale of destruction it would bring. For days after Haiyan, we couldn't get in touch with our families and friends in the province. I couldn't watch the news because it was just too painful. The city of Tacloban (the administrative capital of Eastern Visayas) was almost wiped out. There were dead bodies everywhere. Only strongly built structures have withstood the ravages of the typhoon.

On Monday, we started to receive news from some of our families and friends. They survived although their homes didn't. They told us they are almost out of food and water and are desperately trying to leave the province. Some of my aunts and uncles headed to Cebu, a nearby province, and are now on their way here to Manila.

My Mom's best friend who was diagnosed with breast cancer was confined at Bethany Hospital in Tacloban and was scheduled for surgery that Friday at 3 p.m. When Haiyan hit Tacloban, Bethany Hospital was washed out by the storm surge. She and her son, fortunately, were able to swim to safety.

A childhood friend, who is a policeman, was on duty that day at Tacloban. Until now, he is still missing.

A cousin in Tacloban posted a message on Facebook on Monday for us not to worry because all of them in the family have survived but their homes were destroyed and that they need food and water. I haven't heard from her since but still holding on to hope that they're safe.

Truth is my family is still relatively lucky. We don't have any casualties. Aside from my childhood friend, everyone has been accounted for. A lot of my relatives are on their way here to Manila and some to nearby provinces. But the rest of the survivors are still there, homeless, hungry, scared for their safety due to escalation of crimes, suffering the stench of the place due to decaying corpses.

Many Filipinos are enraged by the inefficiency of the Philippine government's relief and rescue operations. We are very grateful that international organizations such as the UN have been quick to extend help, as well as foreign countries who quickly came to our aid. What we need right now is to keep the survivors alive. After this, the long way to rehabilitation and recovery would be long and truly challenging. We are grateful for the donations and relief assistance but we still need all the help we can get.

Thank you so much, Enty, for giving a spot on CDAN for the survivors of Haiyan.

I know some of the readers have already donated. In behalf of the Filipino people, maraming salamat po. We would forever be grateful.

 

Links to donate:

In the US:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/11/14/13/more-us-companies-offer-free-calls-ph

 

In other countries:
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/13/21386694-how-to-help-organizations-offering-relief-to-typhoon-haiyan-survivors