Saturday, November 9, 2013

From CNN - Red Cross official estimates death toll from Typhoon Yolanda could reach 1,200

Real Cyclists

From CNN News | by Andrew Stevens and Faith Karimi  updated at 9 pm


 An airport lies in ruins in the city of Tacloban in the Philippines on Saturday, November 9. The most powerful cyclone in three decades battered the Philippines, killing a number of people and leaving more than 100 bodies scattered on the streets of this coastal city. Haiyan, one of the most intense typhoons on record, plowed across the country on Friday, with monster winds tearing roofs off buildings and giant waves washing away homes.
 Tacloban airport was totally destroyed;  I was there last year

Death toll could reach as high as 1,200 according to  Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of Philippine Red Cross:   1,000 from Leyte and 200 from Samar.  More precise number could be determined by Sunday.  Much is not known from remote coastal villages where communication has been cut off.  This is also true for Cebu.  Daang Bantayan is inaccessible according to Dennis Chiong, head of Provincial Disaster and Risk center, where more than 3,000 residents need food and water.

The typhoon moved at a fast speed of 41 kph and and typhoon winds  covered area the size of Germany and typhoon clouds covered a distance of 1,000 km roughly the distance from Canada to Florida. 

The very strong winds tore roofs, windows and cut a wide swath of destruction

 A soldier pulls a cable inside the devastated airport tower in Tacloban.
 A soldier inside the Tacloban airport control tower


A man walks among the debris of destroyed houses in the aftermath of the super typhoon in Tacloban. The city has a population of about 220,000. Most of the other badly hit cities and islands were cut off, making the number of casualties unclear.  What happenned?  What hit our kababayan?   Tsunami or an atom bomb?  Let us pray for them and help them


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