Typhoon Haiyan
Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. On making landfall, Haiyan devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. It is one of the deadliest Philippine typhoons on record, killing at least 6,300 people in that country alone. Typhoon Haiyan, called Yolanda in the Philippines, caused catastrophic damage throughout much of the islands of Leyte, where cities and towns were largely destroyed. By April 17, 2016, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) confirmed 6,300 fatalities across the country, 5,902 of those taking place in the Eastern Visayas. However, the true death toll remains unclear.
In Tacloban, Leyte, the terminal building of Tacloban Airport was destroyed by a 5.2 m (17 ft) storm surge up to the height of the second story. Along the airport, a storm surge of 4 m (13 ft) was estimated. Waves of 4.6 m (15 ft) were also estimated. On the western coast of Samar, the storm surge was not as significant. here was widespread devastation from the storm surge in Tacloban City especially in San Jose, with many buildings being destroyed, trees knocked over or broken, and cars piled up. The low-lying areas on the eastern side of Tacloban city were hardest hit, with some areas completely washed away. Flooding also extended for 1 km (0.62 mi) inland on the east coast of the province. City administrator Tecson John Lim stated that roughly 90 percent of the city had been destroyed. Journalists on the ground have described the devastation as, "off the scale, and apocalyptic". Most families in Samar and Leyte lost some family members or relatives; families came in from outlying provinces looking for relatives, especially children, who may have been washed away. The entire first floor of the Tacloban City Convention Center, which was serving as an evacuation shelter, was submerged by storm surge. Many residents in the building were caught off-guard by the fast-rising waters and subsequently drowned or were injured in the building.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Typhoon_Haiyan", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
Typhoon Haiyan at its near-record peak intensity while approaching the Philippines on November 7
Relief missions:
Re-housing project
Leyte, January 2014 - Handog Natin's biggest and most ambitious project so far! We were able to facilitate and commissioned the building of twenty shelters for the victims of Typhoon 'Yolanda/Haiyan'. These 'Bahay Kubo' (Filipino native huts) are being built on the coastal barrio (village) of San Joaquin in Palo, Leyte where it was very unfortunate they had the most number of casualties from the recent disaster and sadly, the survivors who have lost their homes were reduced to living along roadsides using tents donated by international aids or improvised tents and tarpaulins collected from the rubbles.
These newly- built shelters costing an average 17,500 pesos each (around £240) were partly made using materials readily found around the vicinity such as wood from fallen coconut trees for its lumber frames. The roofs are new corrugated galvanised iron sheets, walls from 'Amakan' (weaved bamboo sheaths) or plywood and flooring made of plywood or' kawayan'(bamboo). The villagers helped out during the construction process, thus, a true "Bayanihan" spirit! The survivors who have been affected the most and lost their love ones were chosen as beneficiaries of these 'Bahay kubos'. We have also gave away building materials to selected families whose houses were badly ruined.
The exemplary leadership of our head volunteer and ever dependable Ship Captain Jason Plazuela steered this mission to success much to the community's appreciations. The concept and design for these shelters were also from Captain Jason and his family of seafarers.
Once again, thank you for believing in us. This very successful project will not be possible without the help of our UK & Philippine volunteers. Those who donated generously in cash, in kinds, your time, efforts and hard work. Those who initiated their own fund raising for our charity and those who took part in our fund raising events. Your well wishes, prayers. Thank you very much kind- hearted people from UK and other parts of the world for your compassion to help the typhoon victims in the Philippines. The community of San Joaquin extends their warmest gratitude. Maraming maraming salamat sa inyong lahat.
Sa mga kababayan natin sa Leyte, nawa'y ang munting handog namin na ito ay magbigay pag-asa at munting ligaya sa inyo. Katuwang ninyo kami sa inyong pagbangon! (Tagalog)
Daghan kaayong salamat! Sa atong mga kaigsoonan dinhi sa Leyte, hinaot pa unta nga kining gamay nga regalo gikan kanamo maghatag ug dugang paglaom ug kalipay ninyo...ka alyado ninyo kami sa inyong pagbangon! (Visaya)
Tacloban
December 5 2013 -The 1st stage of the Handog Natin Relief Mission was conducted in an orderly manner at Barangay Sta Elena where 350 families received goods consisting of rice, canned foods, laundry & bath soaps, chocolate drinks, etc. This barangay (village) in Leyte is one of many communities severely damaged by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) and is still in need of assistance with basic necessities. This has been possible through the coordination, hard work and heroic effort of Handog Natin's volunteer, Ship Captain Jason Plazuela and his family from Palo, Leyte. We thank each and everyone who contributed to this cause, especially the organisers and participants of the recent Fundraising Evening done in Coventry, UK last 24th November. Through your help, we were able to reach out to them and made this relief mission truly a success.
Northern Ilo-Ilo
November 24 2013 - Handog Natin volunteers headed by Mrs. Caridad Carbungco and family successfully handed out relief goods to 300 families who were victims of the strongest typhoon that ever made landfall in history a fortnight ago. Our unfortunate 'kababayans' (countrymen) were treated with basic relief goodies that they needed urgently to supply their daily needs. Handog Natin's initial drive to collect donations from Charity cans that were distributed to different areas and were supported generously by staff from University Hospital Coventry and friends from other business premises. We would like to thank everyone who contributed and made our Relief Mission in Ilo-ilo possible at the earliest possible time. This operation happened on the same day as the Coventry Fundraising Evening organised by the Filipino Community and friends from UK.Its success has made it possible to carry on with the next plan for another Relief Operation for Tacloban, Leyte at the earliest time possible as well as Medical Missions in these two areas very soon.
