The Wrath of Typhoon Haiyan – Yolanda
Typhoon Yolanda, one of the strongest typhoon ever recorded in world history has left a massive destruction to my beloved country. Internationally known as Typhoon Haiyan, has left the Philippines a trail of destruction and death. Similar to the previous typhoons that we had, this one has left the Filipino people another piece of bad history. It made landfall Friday, November 8, 2013.
According to the reports I read online and from Wikipedia itself, Typhoon Haiyan (known in the Philippines as Typhoon Yolanda) is unofficially the strongest recorded tropical cyclone to make landfall, with wind speeds up to 315 km/h (195 mph). But locally, they recorded the winds at 230 km/h (145 mph).
Although the data that we get here in the Philippines is a little bit different compare to what the US satellites get, you can tell from the videos how strong this typhoon is (I bet you already watched in the news or in YouTube). I can’t believe we will get hit by such strong typhoon this year when we just had a massive magnitude 7.1 earthquake a month ago in Cebu and Bohol.
Thanks to technology, some Netizens uploaded videos of the storm over the internet before they lost the power and communication in Tacloban City, the biggest city affected by Yolanda. Here’s one of the first videos of the storm uploaded in Youtube.
Looking at how Yolanda destroys the Philippines from the videos, it is already heartbreaking. I know the feeling of getting through this kind of storm, specially if we are talking about one of the strongest typhoon ever recorded in world history.
What’s worst is looking at the photos of the Typhoon Haiyan after math… 🙁
I don’t like to upload photos with dead bodies on it because I can’t bare to see them like that. I can’t believe how such typhoon can leave a devastating site like this. It was like the city has been hit by a tsunami and a tornado at the same time without a tornado or tsunami warning. I think people are not well prepared or didn’t get warned on how big and strong the typhoon that will hit them. Storm surges and strong winds destroyed the entire region of Leyte, Samar and other nearby cities.
HELP FROM PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD
I am so amazed on how the world cared a lot for all the Filipino people specially to those people who got affected by this deadly typhoon. I get a lot of messages from friends, families and clients across the world asking how I am or if I am safe.
As for the efforts of different countries around the world and to my fellow Filipinos locally, I believe the donations are still pouring in. If you want to help in any way you can, here’s some of the ways:
HOW THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CAN HELP:
- Philippine Red Cross (including PayPal) – Donate Here
- UNICEF – Donate Here or Text RELIEF to 864233 to donate $10 to UNICEF USA to help support UNICEF’s efforts in the region.
- Habitat for Humanity – Donate Here
- CARE Australia – Donate Here
- World Vision International – Donate Here
- Save The Children of the Storm – Donate Here
- Canadian Red Cross (or you can text REDCROSS or ROUGE to 30333 to donate $5) – Donate Here
HOW THE LOCAL COMMUNITY CAN HELP:
- UNICEF Philippines – Donate Here
- Text Donations via Globe– Text RED to 2899. Denoms. in 5, 25, 50, 100, 300, 500 and 1000.
- World Food Programme Philippines – Donate Here
- Sagip Kapamilya – Donate Here
- LIST OF ON-GOING RELIEF OPERATIONS via Rappler.com
HOW TO FILE FOR MISSING PERSONS:
Anyway, Thanks Kobe Bryant and NBA Cares for the donations! 🙂
#PrayForThePhilippines #heartbroken
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) November 12, 2013
Five days after the typhoon, a lot of people in Tacloban City are still homeless and seeking food, water, clothes and shelter. Let us all hope and pray that the relief operations and medical assistance will reach them as soon as possible.
#YolandaPH #RescuePH #ReliefPH #PrayForThePhilippines