Typhoon Haiyan Disaster in the Philippines

Monster Typhoon Exposes an Ill-Prepared Philippines



By Andrew R.C. Marshall | Reuters – 11 hours ago

TACLOBAN, Philippines (Reuters) - Dead bodies clog the basement of the Tacloban City Convention Centre. The dazed evacuees in its sports hall are mostly women and children. The men are missing.That so few men made it to this refuge shows how dimly aware they were of the threat posed by Typhoon Haiyan, which crashed into the central Philippines on Friday with some of the strongest winds ever recorded.Many men stayed at their homes to guard against looters. Poorly enforced evacuations compounded the problem. And the bodies illustrate another, more troubling truth: the evacuation centre itself became a death trap, as many of those huddling in the basement perished in a tsunami-like swirl of water.

US Massing Largest Ever Pacific Relief Effort



Nov 12, 2013

The U.S. Marine commander on the ground in the Philippines called Tuesday for more ships, supplies and troops to cope with the vast devastation caused by super Typhoon Haiyan in what was shaping up as the biggest relief effort ever undertaken by the U.S. military in the Pacific.The aircraft carrier USS George Washington and its battle group were expected to arrive in Philippine waters Wednesday. However, Marine Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy said his more immediate need was for amphibious ships and the tracked vehicles, landing craft and added Marines they bring with them."They are the Swiss army knife of the U.S. military," Kennedy said of the capabilities of the amphibious ships, which also have helicopter landing pads, medical staff and facilities for providing potable water.In addition to help from the U.S., "the rest of the world needs to get mobilized, the rest of the donor community," Kennedy told NBC News. "A week from now will be too late."

I am not worried about the next typhoon brewing, or alleged acts of lawlessness and shooting. I am most concerned at the moment about the restoration of clean water and removal of dead bodies and dead animals and sharpish, otherwise the hygiene conditions as they are, epidemics may very well start and with almost ten million affected by the storm we are looking at a major goddam disaster. Brig. Kennedy is quite right, there is no time to lose.

And Tacloban was one of the fastest growing spot in the RP, too.

Preux said:

I am not worried about the next typhoon brewing, or alleged acts of lawlessness and shooting. I am most concerned at the moment about the restoration of clean water and removal of dead bodies and dead animals and sharpish, otherwise the hygiene conditions as they are, epidemics may very well start and with almost ten million affected by the storm we are looking at a major goddam disaster. Brig. Kennedy is quite right, there is no time to lose.

And Tacloban was one of the fastest growing spot in the RP, too.

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no not "very. Well start." Will start, Period.
not like President Obama's period either.
the Philippines are a nation of a thousand small islands chained together. This storm has separated, isolated and damaged the few systems that keep these islands alive. A poor nation its housing was highly susceptible to storms like this. Exposure, power was cut off; without electricity water desalinization and possessing, rotting bodies in the tropical pacific, lack of functioning sanitation. This is a humanitarian nightmare that will take a decade to solve at best.

Blackstone said:

China isn't rich by Western and Japan per capita standards, but she is far more wealthy than the Philippines and should put aside her differences with them in times of emergency.

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Well the only people who seem interested in interjecting political commentary is coming from the foreign media and those keen on brow beating China no matter the issue. I mean it isn't as though China has made any hostile gestures whatsoever to take advantage of the chaos in the Philippines; when they have in fact contributed aid, yet even that has been interpreted as some kind of hostile gesture.

The problem here isn't China donating too little at all, but rather those who are all too happy to exploit disaster and human suffering to serve their own political agenda and try make China out to be the villains once again.

Can we have some goddam respect for the dead and save this unseemly debate for another occasion? Yes, people are biased, people often see what they like to see and make up a conclusion before searching for evidence to support it... but meanwhile thousands lie dead and maybe, just maybe, we should act like decent people and focus on that instead of our own petty squabbles.

Preux said:

Can we have some goddam respect for the dead and save this unseemly debate for another occasion? Yes, people are biased, people often see what they like to see and make up a conclusion before searching for evidence to support it... but meanwhile thousands lie dead and maybe, just maybe, we should act like decent people and focus on that instead of our own petty squabbles.

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I'm reading all the post in this thread and find it really amusing that a thread which was supposed to be about the typhoon disaster in the Philippines so quickly turned into a anti china bashing thread. wow I can feel the sense of hostility and bigotry towards china. I shouldn't be surprised but it's another eye opener. good job boys, continue your anti china bashings and entertain me further. and please don't be shy and don't hold back let us know how your really feel. Come on baby let it all out!

z117 said:

Well the only people who seem interested in interjecting political commentary is coming from the foreign media and those keen on brow beating China no matter the issue. I mean it isn't as though China has made any hostile gestures whatsoever to take advantage of the chaos in the Philippines; when they have in fact contributed aid, yet even that has been interpreted as some kind of hostile gesture.

The problem here isn't China donating too little at all, but rather those who are all too happy to exploit disaster and human suffering to serve their own political agenda and try make China out to be the villains once again.

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If you honestly believe China's $100k donation befits her status as a global power, then we'll take that as your standard for the Middle Kingdom. Some of us have higher standards for aspiring great powers.

Blackstone said:

If you honestly believe China's $100k donation befits her status as a global power, then we'll take that as your standard for the Middle Kingdom. Some of us have higher standards for aspiring great powers.

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Nobody in China gives a crap about your standards.



If I was absolutely disgusted by the smear campaign waged against China's humanitarian gesture, now I am also greatly disappointed by the Chinese government's response. They essentially caved in and decided to donate $1.6 mil. Look at what that got them:

The Chinese government hinted early on that there might be more money in the pipeline. But even its new pledge of $1.6m is dwarfed by the contributions of Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and others.

And it stands in sharp contrast to China's other recent donations: over $10m for Japan in the wake of its tsunami two years ago and almost $40m for countries affected by the 2004 Asian tsunami.

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Nothing but more criticisms. Absolutely disgusting.

This $1,600,000 could have helped thousands of people in China itself, where floods and draughts are almost an annual event. The CCP is going to catch a lot of flak from the Chinese people on this.

solarz said:

Nobody in China gives a crap about your standards.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

If I was absolutely disgusted by the smear campaign waged against China's humanitarian gesture, now I am also greatly disappointed by the Chinese government's response. They essentially caved in and decided to donate $1.6 mil. Look at what that got them:



Nothing but more criticisms. Absolutely disgusting.

This $1,600,000 could have helped thousands of people in China itself, where floods and draughts are almost an annual event. The CCP is going to catch a lot of flak from the Chinese people on this.

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LOL... message from a "great power" noted.