Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.
2013/11/12 05:52:25
Subject: Crazy Storm of Death hits Southeast Asia. Philippines took the brunt of it.
MANILA — A massive relief effort in the central Philippines was being hampered early Tuesday by the wreckage of one of the largest and deadliest storms of the century, a super typhoon that left trees splintered on the streets, bodies festering in open view and desperate towns short of food and water.
The destruction across a chain of Philippine islands leaves authorities with a relief operation both urgent and complicated, and of a scale exceeding any other in the history of this disaster-prone nation.
Distressing first-hand accounts and video footage from Tacloban city in the Philippines, which was dealt the brunt of super typhoon Haiyan.
Rescue workers have reached many of the areas hit four days ago by Typhoon Haiyan, but others remain inaccessible. Pharmacies have been swept away and hospitals gutted. Looters have hauled away medical supplies, according to local media accounts. The half-dozen provinces hit most directly by Haiyan’s 150 mph winds still lack electricity or mobile connections. In some remote areas, relief can come only by boat or helicopter.
A clearer picture of the destruction came more fully into view early Tuesday as a wave of emergency workers reported conditions on the ground and the Philippine military provided aerial photos of towns ground into wood beams and rubble. Photos also showed survivors walking the streets, holding clothes against their noses to block the stench of bodies.
The typhoon cut a path through the middle of this island country — a direct hit on about 10 percent of the population. Up to 10,000 are feared dead in Tacloban city alone, according to unconfirmed accounts, and thousands across the region are missing.
“It is really a massive disaster,” said Sandra Bulling, an emergency communications officer at CARE, a humanitarian agency, who made it to a village 20 miles from Tacloban on Monday. “Aid is slowly getting through, and the local authorities have started distributing. But what the municipalities are telling us is, they’re running out of their stock, and now they’re really relying on international support.”
In Washington, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the aircraft carrier USS George Washington and other Navy ships “to make best speed” for the Philippines, the Pentagon announced Monday. The carrier, with 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircraft on board, was dispatched from Hong Kong, where it was on a port visit. It was being accompanied by two cruisers, a destroyer and a supply ship. Another destroyer got underway for the region on Sunday.
“As needed, these ships and aircraft will be able to provide humanitarian assistance, supplies, and medical care in support of the ongoing efforts” led by the Philippine government and military, the Pentagon said. It said the flotilla should arrive in two or three days.
After ravaging the central Philippines, the super typhoon touched down in central Vietnam early Monday.
On its rampage across the region, Haiyan had much the look of a tsunami, with waves as high as two-story buildings.
President Benigno Aquino III, who traveled by helicopter to Tacloban on Sunday, said the government had deployed several hundred soldiers to “show the strength of the state and deter further looting,” according to his official Web site.
I am honestly kind of shocked this wasn't brought up on dakka earlier; normally we are pretty up to date with current events; I mean it started hitting land on the 7th. Plus I know we have some Philippine Dakkanauts so I am doubly surprised no one said anything. I mean, we dispatched a carrier on the 10th, which means the US Federal Government is a whole day more efficient than Dakka.
2013/11/12 07:27:36
Subject: Crazy Storm of Death hits Southeast Asia. Philippines took the brunt of it.
Bromsy wrote: I am honestly kind of shocked this wasn't brought up on dakka earlier; normally we are pretty up to date with current events; I mean it started hitting land on the 7th. Plus I know we have some Philippine Dakkanauts so I am doubly surprised no one said anything. I mean, we dispatched a carrier on the 10th, which means the US Federal Government is a whole day more efficient than Dakka.
I think any Philipinos in the stricken region have more to worry about than getting on DakkaDakka.
The impact of the storm is similar to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
The UK is sending £10 million of relief supplies, but it will take days to get it to the devastated areas.
I know this is a little late but I've been away on business and somehow unable to get any internet connection.. Glasgow Marriott I'm looking at you...
This storm really was something else, I have family in Manila and own some property there as well. I just thank whatever God you believe in that it smacked the Southern Islands.. But upwards of 10k dead and more than 100k displaced really is a shocking statistic. And all this just 3 months after a huge earthquake shook the island of Bohol and the south. The Filipinos are a remarkably hardy people, but this is too much really. My wife (who is from Manila) and myself were moved to tears by some of the images shown. We are going out to Manila next year, around March time we think, and we fully intend on going to Tacloban to help out the least fortunate. We are both Nurses and want to help in any way we can....Its a real humanitarian tragedy and deserves all the recognition it gets..
2013/11/12 16:09:59
Subject: Crazy Storm of Death hits Southeast Asia. Philippines took the brunt of it.
I feel really bad for the Phillipines, its like, every time they start making some progress on things and getting back on track, an act of God comes and sets them back down further than they were before.
CoALabaer wrote: Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
2013/11/13 04:54:22
Subject: Crazy Storm of Death hits Southeast Asia. Philippines took the brunt of it.
The U.S. military is en route to provide aide, the George Washington group just got diverted, and Marines already have boots on the ground with two ships loading time yesterday for immediate departure at docks in Okinawa.
I beg of you sarge let me lead the charge when the battle lines are drawn
Lemme at least leave a good hoof beat they'll remember loud and long
AlmightyWalrus wrote: 200 MPH is rather... wow. I won't even try to make a pun, that's just an awful lot of air at once.
Haiyan is being touted as the strongest typhoon/cyclone/hurricane ever recorded. Worse than Katrina, though honestly Floyd would have been the real cake-topper had it actually hit land.
The main problem in the Philippines though is overall poor building construction, (outside of Manila), which isn't designed to take the brunt of a powerful storm, combined with already mediocre to poor infrastructure which is now entirely non-existent.
A similar storm would totally fustigate/cripple a US city for sure, but you wouldn't have such total and complete destruction due to better building codes, materials & architecture which has been designed with hurricanes in mind. In some places, there isn't even the remnants or skeleton frame of builds left... getting around is going to be impossible when you have a city's worth of buildings & trees suddenly replacing all the roads.
2013/11/14 16:01:15
Subject: Crazy Storm of Death hits Southeast Asia. Philippines took the brunt of it.
