Destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan

                

                      Destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four days ago, areas of the Philippines were destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever recorded. The storm slammed into Tacloban, a city of 220,000 in the central Philippines. Evacuation has finally begun, but many residents remain in the region without food, clean water or shelter—all were .

Destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan

The typhoon first made landfall in the city of Guiuan. Authorities estimate that over 23,000 homes were destroyed throughout the storm's path

Destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan

 

Some bodies were laid in St. Michael The Archangel Chapel in the city of Tacloban, in the central Philippines. The city has no functioning morgue, so people put bodies where they can.

Destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan

 

Debris coats the city's streets as the rain continues four days after the typhoon.

Destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan

 

Survivors walk over a bridge destroyed by the typhoon.

Destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan

 

Large waves caused by Haiyan washed two large boats onto Tacloban's wrecked shore

Destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan

 

Although the typhoon is called Haiyan elsewhere, its name in the Philippines is Yolanda

Destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan

 

Survivors rush to a military evacuation plane in Tacloban on Tuesday. Only a few hundred made it this round




 Destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan

To hasten relief efforts, Philippine officials have asked for help from the United States, who dispatched the aircraft carrier U.S.S. George Washington from Hong Kong on Tuesday.

"We've asked the U.S. for aid and the secretary of defense says they are sending an aircraft carrier and a couple other ships — those are en route," Ricky Carandang, a spokesman for the Philippine president, Benigno S. Aquino III, 

"There are lots of remote areas that haven't received aid," Mr. Carandang said. "The priority is to get food and water supplied. With communications partially functioning, with ports and roads blocked, we need to get that clear first. We need to get the roads clear before you can get the aid to them


"I was pleading with the soldiers. I was kneeling and begging because I have diabetes," said Helen Cordial, whose house was destroyed in the storm. "Do they want me to die in this airport? They are stone-hearted."
"We need help. Nothing is happening," said Aristone Balute, an 81-year-old who also didn't get a flight. "We haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon." Her clothes were soaked from the rain, and tears streamed down her face

"There has been a lot of commentary that relief is not moving as fast as it should be," said Praveen Agrawal, the World Food Program's Philippines representative and country director. "The reality on the ground is there is such a level of devastation."
"Under normal circumstances, even in a typhoon, you'd have some local infrastructure up and some businesses with which you can contract," Mr. Agrawal said. "Being as strong as it was, it was very much like a tsunami. It wiped out everything. It's like starting from scratch" in terms of delivering the aid, he said.

  The UN will donate at least $25 million towards relief efforts. And at least three countries – Australia, Japan, and Britain— have pledged millions of dollars in aid

The monstrous storm seen in this new satellite image is the biggest of the year and one of the most powerful tropical cyclones of all time. "Super typhoon" Haiyan is currently thrashing the entirety of the Philippines with sustained winds of 190 mph and gusts up to 230 mph, and then it's headed for Vietnam. It's such a wildly dangerous storm that it's even terrifying the weather forecasters.

This storm has at all: heavy rains, plenty of lightning, tremendous wincs, and a deadly storm surge. If there's a little island here or there that doesn't get the flooding from the rain, it will get it from the storm surge, and whatever's not under the floodwaters will be whipped to hell by the winds.

Dr. Jeff Masters, the popular meteorologist who blogs at Weather Underground, is especially shaken by the satellite loops of this nightmare storm.

Haiyan has the most spectacular appearance I've ever seen on satellite loops, with a prominent eye surrounded by a huge, impenetrable-looking mass of intense eyewall thunderstorms with tops that reach into the lower stratosphere," Masters wrote today. "With landfall expected to occur by 21 UTC (4 pm EST) on Thursday, Haiyan doesn't have time to weaken much before landfall, and will likely hit the Philippines at Category 5 strength."