*Warning: graphic content and images
Imagine decaying bodies scattered in the streets, children being swept away from their parents, towns turned into war zones with the hungry stealing from one another, and homes completely flattened by the strong winds. These are just a few horror scenes from the Philippines these last few days.
Just a few days ago, massive Typhoon Haiyan (known as Yolanda in the Philippines) ripped through the central Philippines and surrounding islands, leaving about 10,000 dead and 600,000 without a home. Death tolls are still continuing to rise. According to the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center, this super typhoon is the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in recorded history with sustained winds up to 195 mph and gusts up to 235 mph.
Tacloban, the hardest hit city, is facing the most causalities and damage to its area. Seeing as much of the infrastructure in the Philippines is poor, many homes and buildings were easily destroyed. With fallen trees, floods reaching well above the knee and no electricity, you can imagine the destruction and misery faced by the Philippine people. Dead bodies are piled on the streets and the smell of rotting flesh is emanating in the area. There is a high chance of disease spreading because of the decaying bodies and untreated wounds caused by the storm.
Those who have survived are suffering without food, clean drinking water and shelter. There are people at airports desperately trying to get a flight out to neighboring islands. Malls and stores have been looted empty and Philippine authorities are unable to control the people. Chaos is everywhere.
A global response has occurred in efforts to aid the Philippines in their time of need. However, due to the damaged roads, airports, fallen infrastructure and debris, help is being delayed. Many countries have donated emergency relief such as money, medical care, water, food and military forces.
The United Nations has already released $25 million to help pay for shelter, health services, water supplies and sanitation facilities. In addition, the UN has launched an appeal for $301 million in relief efforts.
“We’ve just launched an action plan focusing on the areas of food, health, sanitation, shelter, debris removal and also protection of the most vulnerable with the government and I very much hope our donors will be generous,” said Valarie Amos, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
The United States has sent USS George Washington filled with water and food, as well as providing $20 million in aid.
Other countries including Australia, Japan and Britain have also helped by dispatching military personnel and warships to the destroyed region and sending millions of dollars in emergency aid. Japan has sent its troops to aid in the typhoon-affected regions. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has said they are willing to donate $10 million and even send more troops if needed.
Even celebrities are raising awareness in supporting the Philippines:
To find out how you can help, visit one of these many websites that are working to aid the Philippines:
As a proud Filipina myself, it’s heartbreaking to see the calamity in which the Philippines is going through. To get a better understanding of the situation, I have contacted my family members back home and even a few VCU students. Here’s what they had to say:
“Help is coming in super slow mode. The congregation of food trucks and medical help have to be escorted by soldiers lest they get ambushed by people who are hungry and desperate…It’s like a scene from ‘Night of the Living Dead.” –Alcs Porras, Philippine native
“Filipinos and other parts of the world have joined together to help those under this state of calamity. What really amazes me is someone came up with the idea of donating teddy bears to children who were heavily traumatized by the incident. It has helped them psychologically where teddy bears were considered their security blanket.” –Danielle Gomez, Philippine native
“I feel sad every time I watch nightly news updates, but the best thing to do here is be an active member of the society by helping them in the best way we can. I even see people who do not have money to donate but they still find ways to help like repacking relief goods or I’ve even heard some prisoners skip 1 meal every day to give to the victims. Filipinos are resilient so I know they can weather this storm.” –Bianca Hipolito, Philippine Native
“My family immediately sent money over to our family when we heard that a typhoon was going to hit our hometown. Money for food and supplies if they got stranded…They thought everything was okay because they heard there were no causalities in our area. But that was not true, because my mother lost her brother. We are unsure of how he died, but we do know it was because of him not being safe during the storm. My family is currently stressed out and flustered because we have no way of getting into contact with our family members there. My mother and father have told me that they have tried to get into contact with government officials there, but we all know that the Philippines’ government is nothing like the American government, and we are basically helpless. It is actually pretty sad that this is happening. We all feel very upset…” –Julie Palanca, Junior at VCU
“Fortunately, none of my own family members in the Philippines were affected by the tragedy directly. However, I have a few childhood friends whose family members are currently missing because of the typhoon! I can’t imagine what they and their families must be going through.” –Miann Rogers, Freshman at VCU
“FACT (Filipino Americans Come Together) had a fundraiser at Bodillaz, originally for a Filipino Conference, but when the Typhoon hit, we changed the intent of the fundraiser to raise money for the typhoon victims. As an organization, we’ve gotten much closer in order to fundraise for our family back home. We even held a candle vigil for them!” –Christian Ruiz, Freshman at VCU