Stench of Death Permeates the Philippines Disaster Zone

Super Typhoon HAIYAN: Scope of the Disaster Widens

Surviving victims of the Philippines mega disaster began their fifth day on Tuesday with no food, water, medicine, electricity or communication lines in the worst-affected provinces of Eastern Samar, Leyte, Oriental Mindoro, Masbate, Sorsogon, Negros, Capiz, Romblon and Busuanga in Palawan.

Significant damage to housing have been reported in northern Negros Oriental province. In Cadiz City, for example, about 5,000 houses. Nearly all corn and sugar crops surrounding the city have been destroyed. The neighboring city of Sagay has also experienced much of the same fate.

Survivors of the Super Typhoon HAIYAN trying to identify the dead in Tacloban city, Philippines, November 12, 2013.  Image credit: Screenshot from  Reuters video clip/Romeo Ranoco.

Disaster Stats

• Tacloban City remains the worst affected area with at least 10,000 dead and counting, according to the government estimates.
  • [The Philippine NDRMC has confirmed the number of dead at 1,774, with 2,487  others injured and 82  missing so far. Senior officials have estimated the death toll at more than 10,000.  FIRE-EARTH Disaster Models estimated the casualties at up to 40,000. ]
• Nearly 10 million people have been affected by the HAIYAN, including 3.5 million who lived directly in the path of the deadly typhoon, who have been hit severely.
• The official number of those who have lost their homes has increased to about two-thirds of a million people (the actual number of people displaced is 659,268, as of posting).
• Most of the disaster zone lacks clean water, food, shelter, sanitation, medical supplies, transportation or communication links.
• Large numbers of victims are roaming around like “zombies” begging for help, and scavenging for food, water and medicine.
• Significant devastation has been reported along the northeast coast of Iloilo province, especially in Conception and San Dionisio municipalities.
• Many roads throughout the disaster zone are still inaccessible, due to significant amounts of debris.
• Dozens of towns and villages in the Cebu province have suffered up to 90% devastation.
• The town of Guiuanin (population: 44,000) in Samar province is almost entirely flattened.
• The city of Baco (Population 37,000) in Oriental Mindoro province was 80% under water, according to the UN.
• There is still no information available on the condition of people in remote areas of the country.

NDRC Update [ November 12, 2013 ]

Source: Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRMC). [$1 = 43.20 Philippine pesos]

Vietnam

Typhoon HAIYAN was the 14th storm to hit Vietnam this year, leaving at least 14 dead, 4 missing and 81 others injured, according to the country’s National Committee for Search and Rescue.

China

HAIYAN killed at least 7 people in China, including five people in Hainan and two in Guangxi, and left 4 others missing. The cyclone destroyed 900 houses and damaged 8,500 others. It also destroyed 25,500 hectares of crops, with the direct economic losses estimated at 4.47 billion yuan ($734 million), said Xinhua.

“The National Disaster Reduction Commission announced that more than 3 million people in China’s southern provinces of Hainan and Guangdong and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region had been affected by the typhoon.”

Previous UPDATE [13:30UTC on November 11, 2013 ]

• President Benigno Aquino has declared a state of national calamity and deployed more than 300 soldiers in Tacloban City to quell looting.

• Aid agencies say about 3.5 million people directly in the path of the typhoon have been severely affected.

• More than 300 people are confirmed dead and about 2,000 others have been reported as missing in the town Basey, Samar province, according to the provincial governor.

• “The situation is bad, the devastation has been significant. In some cases the devastation has been total,” a senior politician told reporters.

• HAIYAN has destroyed up to 90 percent of structures in its path. Some 350,000 homes have been destroyed according to an aid worker. This figure dwarfs the disaster estimates issued by the NDRMC.

• Dazed survivors are begging for help and scavenging for food, water and medicine on Monday, reported Reuters.

• “There’s an awful lot of casualties, a lot of people dead all over the place, a lot of destruction,” Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross, told the BBC.

Tropical Depression ZORAIDA

Meantime, Tropical Depression ZORAIDA was located about 216km southeast of Hinatuan, Surigao Del Sur, or 192km East of Davao City, dumping moderate to heavy rain at rates of up to 15mm per hour within a 300-km radius, as of 5:00am local time, said PAGASA.

This post will be updated throughout the day as more information becomes available.

Super Typhoon HAIYAN: Chronology of Disaster

• Tropical Depression ZORAIDA Striking Mindanao, Philippines November 11, 2013
• Philippine Disaster Update – November 11 November 11, 2013
• Typhoon HAIYAN Strikes Northern Vietnam Near China Border November 11, 2013
• Philippine Disaster Zone: “It’s Like the End of the World.” November 10, 2013
• Super Typhoon HAIYAN – NOV 10 Update November 10, 2013
• Super Typhoon HAIYAN: Casualties Could Top Many Thousands November 9, 2013
• Extraterrestrial Typhoon Force Generating 20-Meter “Tsunami” November 8, 2013
• Super Typhoon HAIYAN’S Arm Battering the Philippines November 7, 2013
• “Extraterrestrial” Typhoon HAIYAN – Image Update November 6, 2013
• HAIYAN Intensifying to “Extraterrestrial” Levels November 6, 2013
• Potential Super Typhoon Headed for the Philippines November 4, 2013
• Typhoon KROSA Destroys or Damages 19,000 Homes in Philippines  November 2, 2013

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