Thousands of terrified human beings died in that cyclone

[malaise]

The living have no power, no water, few homes and little food
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24878801
<snip>
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, with 200 more deaths in Samar province.

Hundreds of thousands of people are reported displaced from their homes.

President Benigno Aquino said he feared there would be "substantially more casualties".

Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said: "All systems are down. There is no power, no water, nothing. People are desperate. They're looting."

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.
-------------------------------
These storms are bigger and stronger but have no fear - the climate isn't changing

[FreakinDJ]

1. My wife's family is in Cebu

waiting to hear word now

[malaise]

2. I emailed my schoolmate

She and her husband are in Manila - he's a retired doctor - she's says it's horrific but no one knows how many people have died - the emergency folks are more concerned with the living right now except that they have to bury the dead quickly.
She says that the destruction is massive.

[enlightenment]

3. Very sorry to hear that.

Hoping for the best.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. No. No change at all. Those poor people!

[arikara]

5. They have to stop calling it "looting"

when people are picking through rubble and muck for food and clothing in order to live. Looting is just not that.

[malaise]

6. Agreed

The Phillipines and Haiti are located in the middle of storm paths - they will never overcome poverty

[FSogol]

9. Puerto Rico and Cuba are in those same paths. How do they escape?

Answer: Better infrastructure, concrete houses, etc.

[malaise]

14. Partly true in terms of infrastructure and resources, but remember

Puerto Rico is further north. Cuba does get hit regularly but she is way ahead of everyone else in terms of preparation. Jamaica's shape is our luck - we get regular misses on both sides.
That said two Cuban academics wrote an excellent paper showing how development is set back every time you get hit. The Philippines are in that awful path as well.

[Pterodactyl]

12. Yes, taking food and water is perfectly OK. Taking advantage to steal a TV is not OK.

[dionysus]

18. it's only looting when minorities do it. white people "find food". see katrina.

[intheflow]

21. Yep.

[arely staircase]

7. I have a good friend who lives in Vietnam

waiting to see a FB post from him on all this. I guess they are hunkered down right now.

[Skittles]

8. .

[malaise]

16. Watching on NBC - frightening indeed

NBC says it's even worse than expected. 40 ft waves devastated Tacloban. They say they haven't seen anything like this since the Asian tsunami.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2574

Jeff Masters

After spending 48 hours at Category 5 strength, the strongest landfalling tropical cyclone in world history, Super Typhoon Haiyan, has finally weakened to a Category 4 storm. With top sustained winds of 155 mph, Haiyan is still an incredibly powerful super typhoon, but has now finished its rampage through the Central Philippine Islands, and is headed across the South China Sea towards Vietnam. Satellite loops show that Haiyan no longer has a well-defined eye, but the typhoon still has a huge area of intense thunderstorms which are bringing heavy rains to the Central Philippines. I've never witnessed a Category 5 storm that made landfall and stayed at Category 5 strength after spending so many hours over land, and there are very few storms that have stayed at Category 5 strength for so long.


From BBC

[cordelia]

11. My friend heard from his mother in Manila. They were OK, but his aunt's roof blew off in

Romblon Province, south of Luzon. Additional damages throughout the Romblon, but he didn't have a report on casualties. At least some communication is possible between certain areas.

He said that many people in the remote Provinces were not aware the storm was approaching and were unprepared.

[Rebellious Republican]

13. I have known many good Filipino people when I was in the Navy.

I have been watching this, my heart goes to all that have family and friends there.

[pipi_k]

15. Kinda sorta

has something to do with this...

Facebook really needs to add a "dislike" button to its reply options...here is why...

A friend of mine posted a story about the disaster in the Philippines, all the death and destruction.

Her DIL's mom...who apparently has the brain capacity of a slug... actually clicked "like" instead of leaving a two word comment like, oh, "How horrible!" or even (since she's one of those pray-ers) "I will pray for them".

But no...too much trouble, I guess.

Laziness makes people look like assholes.

anyway.

I can't even imagine how awful it must be for those poor people.

Oh, and yeah...stronger, more frequent storms. No climate change here...

more

[intheflow]

22. When you "like" a post on fb, it increases the post's visibility

on other people's news feeds. I'm sure she doesn't like the story, as in , "Wow, that's some great suffering!" Rather she wanted to show appreciation for the news in her feed and didn't feel like she had anything important to comment about it in the thread.

[Quantess]

23. Haven't you ever seen people "like" people's posts that tell bad news before?

They do it as a low-committal (or just unoriginal) way to show support. They click "like" to acknowledge the post instead of just reading it and moving on. Sure it's lazy, but it's supposed to be a validation of sorts.

[tavalon]

17. The little girl I sponsor is in the Phillipines

and I left all of my paperwork at my son's house. I'm worried about her. Her and everyone who is going through this.

[malaise]

19. I hope she's OK

BBC news is saying 10,000 dead in Leyte

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24887337
<snip>
Police in the Philippines say they fear 10,000 people may have died in the devastation wreaked by Typhoon Haiyan.

The Philippine government has so far only confirmed the death of several hundred people after the storm struck.

But regional police chief Elmer Soria said he was told by the provincial governor of Leyte that there were about 10,000 deaths on the eastern island alone.
----------------------------------

[LeftyMom]

24. I heard a representative from Save the Children on the BBC earlier complaining about "looting"

grocery stores. And children pooping in the streets because there were no sanitary facilities.

She'd left Tacloban for the safety of Manila as soon as she could get a flight.

Apparently Saving the Children doesn't involve making sure they get food or getting off your pampered western ass and digging a latrine.

[hatrack]

25. Well what the FUCK did she expect?

When there's no food, no water, and no place to defecate, these things are going to happen.

[LeftyMom]

26. She wanted to know why the government hadn't come in and "restored order".

I guess the kids were supposed to hold it until the army arrived.

[hatrack]

27. (wiping up bits of radish from the computer screen)

Hah!


Kind of hard to fly in relief when the airport's been washed away, one would think.

[CTyankee]

28. hopes and thoughts are with these people...lord give them hope and peace...

hopfully our humanitarian efforts will help!