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Obviously you have never been to the Philippines. I have and their government couldn't find their way out of a paper bag sorry to say.
I like the country. My wife is from Rizal. None of that changes the fact that the government in inept and the people of the Philippines have limitations themselves.
Been to Leyte for the 50th Anniversary of MacArthur's landing in 1994. Seen Talcolban and the general area. I'd say not much had changed since 1944 in the rural area. Most of Leyte I would consider the boonies with precious few roads as we know them.
In addition a lot of people are on smaller islands where evacuation is difficult given the size of the storm.
I think one will find most of the dead will be from around Tacloban City which faced due east and was hit head on by the storm surge being at sea level. Once you move a little inland you start to hit the hills and then mountains of Leyte where the only problem would be high winds. High winds/typhoons have hit those inland areas for centuries and would cause little problem other than blowing palm fronds and/or corrugated metal roofing off the bamboo and cinder block huts.
Dok, I realize the UN has limitations. But everyone knew at least a week in advance that this storm (the largest recorded typhoon) was going to hit the Philippines dead-on. This wasn't a surprise like the Haiti earthquake or the Fukushima disaster.
Just a quick correction Minnie, it wasn't the largest typhoon on record, not even close.
In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.
Dok, I realize the UN has limitations. But everyone knew at least a week in advance that this storm (the largest recorded typhoon) was going to hit the Philippines dead-on. This wasn't a surprise like the Haiti earthquake or the Fukushima disaster.
One week is milliseconds in UN time. Just saying.
OTOH, they have enough time and resources to fly them planes and helos 1/2 filled.
No such thing as a good tax - Churchill
To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.
Obviously you have never been to the Philippines. I have and their government couldn't find their way out of a paper bag sorry to say.
Neither have i been to the state of Orissa in my county, so i have no idea whether that govt could find its way out of a paper bag either. See the difference in fatalities
I think one will find most of the dead will be from around Tacloban City which faced due east and was hit head on by the storm surge being at sea level. Once you move a little inland you start to hit the hills and then mountains of Leyte where the only problem would be high winds. High winds/typhoons have hit those inland areas for centuries and would cause little problem other than blowing palm fronds and/or corrugated metal roofing off the bamboo and cinder block huts.
Bingo!
Big Hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons all have advance warning. 5 days with present tech.
Many unnecessary deaths can occur in UN milliseconds Dok. Delays also increase the potential of various medical problems associated with rotting corpses, contaminated water, lack of antibiotics, etc.
Many unnecessary deaths can occur in UN milliseconds Dok. Delays also increase the potential of various medical problems associated with rotting corpses, contaminated water, lack of antibiotics, etc.
I know Minnie, UN is just that sloppy due to their bureaucracy.
No such thing as a good tax - Churchill
To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.
Workers load bodies into a long trench for burial in Tacloban, Philippines, the city hardest hit by Typhoon Haiyan.
Authorities wanted to dig a second trench to accommodate more of the dead, but the backhoe had stopped working.
(Kevin Frayer / AFP/Getty Images / November 17, 2013)
More corpses lie in the streets or are still covered by rubble. Communal burial pits are the fastest way to avoid the spread of disease. Dead animals also need to be disposed of. Lord have mercy.
Many deaths could have been avoided simply by evacuating to the leeward side of the islands.
16 November 2013
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 devastating 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. 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."
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."
In the week leading up to the storm, there were nationally televised hearings about accusations that President Benigno Aquino III had diverted more than $500 million in funds earmarked for infrastructure improvements to buy off key senators' loyalty. Aquino has strongly denied the allegations.
The storm
Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, was historic in its scope, with experts including NASA concluding it may be the most powerful tropical cyclone to ever make landfall. "It is the most powerful storm ever to make landfall,” Weather Channel lead meteorologist Michael Palmer told NBC News. “It is as strong a typhoon as you can get, basically.”
370 miles: That was the width of Typhoon Haiyan as it surged through the Philippines with sustained winds of 195 mph, and gusts reaching 235 mph. 6: The number of times Haiyan made Philippine landfall on Nov. 8. 17 feet: Height of the storm surge in Tacloban, the biggest city in the hardest-hit central Philippines, where some of the worst flooding was recorded. 27 inches: That was the most rainfall recorded by NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), on the southeast corner of the island of Leyte, during the storm's passage.
The human impact 13 million people have been affected by the typhoon, according to a situation report by OCHA on Saturday. The Philippine government says 9.8 million have been affected in 44 provinces, 539 municipalities and 56 cities. Of those affected, 4.9 million are children; 1.5 million are children under the age of five who are at risk of Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM), a measurement of nutritional status used to assess the severity of a humanitarian crisis.
The U.N. said Thursday that the death toll from the monster typhoon had reached 4,200. The Philippine government disputes this figure and has reported 3,637 deaths as of Saturday, up from 2,360. 2 Americans have been identified among the dead, according to the U.S. State Department. 12,501: The number of individuals injured, according to the Philippine disaster council. 1,186 are still missing, according to the council. 3 million people have been displaced, with 371,000 people currently living in 1,086 evacuation centers and 2.7 million people displaced elsewhere. Over 70 percent of the displaced are in the six adjacent provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros. 2.5 million people are in need of food assistance, according to U.N. estimates. 360,000: The number of pregnant and lactating women who need specialized services for prenatal, postnatal, child health, health promotion and family planning services.
Infrastructure 494,611 homes have been damaged following the typhoon (248,176 destroyed and 246,435 damaged), according to the disaster council. 628 schools sustained damaged, excluding in Eastern and Western Samar provinces, which have not reported yet, according to OCHA.
Aid and assistance 375,795 people have been assisted through food distribution, including rice, high-energy biscuits and canned goods as of Friday, according to OCHA. 400,000: The number of gallons of freshwater the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George Washington can produce in a day.
Funding $300 million: The amount the United Nations appealed for the Haiyan Action Plan to provide supplies and services to those affected by the typhoon.
So far, $81 million has been contributed by donors, including United Nations member states and the private sector, including more than $20 million from the United States.
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