'The strongest typhoon in the world this year bore down on the Philippines, ...'

Phillipine typhoon

and this from the huff post:

"Super Typhoon Haiyan Could Be One Of The Strongest Storms In World History"

Mind boggling power. Sustained winds of 195 mph at landfall. Gusts to 235 mph. How many buildings can endure those kinds of winds for long?

Super typhoon Haiyan will also pass near the area hardest hit by a magnitude 7.1 quake last month.

Wow! That's hard to imagine! How do you prepare for a storm like that? I too wonder how many buildings could withstand that level of wind. It's like a really powerful tornado but tens of thousands of times larger.

You take a vacation ANYWHERE else.

This reminds me of our evergreen discussion topic: bugging in vs. bugging out. In my mind, this storm is a clear example of where bugging out is preferable. Property and livelihoods can be insured, rebuilt, replaced, or abandoned. Life, once lost, is gone for good.

True, except in this case, living on an island chain leaves fewer options.

That said, initial reports so far--or lack of them--could indicate fairly minimal damage. Haiyan's forward velocity was relatively quick, so it didn't linger and dump as much rain on any given place as it could've.

But with such a far flung country, it could take a while to get a clearer picture of what happened without power and disrupted communications.

Looks like a monster storm. Unfortunately, most of the residents in these areas don't have the financial resources to bug out, at least not very far. They just have to hunker down and take what comes. Not a pleasant situation to be in.

Devastating news, videos and photos coming from the Philippines.

My SO has contacted some relief agencies she has previously worked with and is volunteering to head over there if the agencies send any teams. No concrete plans yet as she also needs one more approval from work for a LOA (Leave of Absence) which will not be known until Tuesday earliest due to the long weekend up here.

...From the early reports, a massive amount of devastation. Will check the news tomorrow.

I heard most of the coastline fishing villages - and there's a lot of them were not reporting in.

It sounds like initially they hoped it was because they thought the damage was minimal.. it's starting to sound like they didn't report in because there wasn't anyone left.

I feel for all those people. They didn't have much in the way of options I don't think.

There are also reports of lawlessness and with my SO wanting to go over there, worries me quite a bit. But it is her calling in life to help others and there is no changing her mind if she gets the opportunity with a relief agency.

An almost complete breakdown of law and order in Tacloban City, where "Super" Typhoon Haiyan caused devastating damage after it struck on Friday, is being seen as an ominous sign of what may follow elsewhere in the Philippines.
The total death toll from what is thought to have been the most violent storm ever to strike land is now expected to rise well above 10,000 - the number estimated to have perished on one island alone.
Three days after Haiyan roared across a huge swathe of the central Philippines, there is still no word from tens of thousands of people living on the islands that bore the full brunt of the typhoon's fury.
But in Tacloban City, the capital of Leyte Island province where local officials believe as many as 10,000 have perished, aid convoys are being raided and shops stripped of everything remaining on their shelves by starving survivors.

I see you're back, Teslinhiker, though you said you'd stay away. Well, I'd like to welcome you back, since you have recognized that life just isn't the same without ETS!

Man, what a terrible tragedy. Much of the time tropic island life must be idyllic but when a mega-storm like this comes along there's nowhere to run to escape it.

one major problem is that there is no such thing as a "fast response international relief agency". despite what they may say - they all take weeks before they can become effective in a remote area. military response teams are probably the best short-term hope for those desperate people. let's hope that Asian nations pitch in with a major response.

Pete2

That is not entirely correct. Within hours of the aftermath of the typhoon, many agencies were in the process or had advance teams on the ground. Some were also delivering aid within hours, often at the risk of their lives. Furthermore many countries do not want any foreign military or government organizations in their country and will turn down assistance. Case in point, this typhoon is the first in recent months that the Philippine government has accepted UN humanitarian assistance

Orla Fagan, the public information officer at the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Philippines spoke with the Wall Street Journal about how the U.N. begins responding to disasters and how no amount of preparedness could have saved some parts of the country from such massive destruction.

WSJ: When a natural disaster of this scale hits a country, how do humanitarian organizations begin responding?

Ms. Fagan: When there is something this massive and this big, we’re guests of the government in the country. So we offer assistance and then the government welcomes the assistance or they don’t take the assistance. Since the 10th of August, this is the fourth typhoon [to hit the Philippines] and this is the first typhoon where they have welcomed the offer of assistance.

Military response teams are initially effective and provide needed heavy lift (air and sea) capability and muscle. However this is usually not long term and it is left up to the NGO's to keep the assistance going, often for months and years after the crisis is no longer in the daily news.

Quick update. My SO is heading to the Philippines via Japan on Thursday morning. Once in Japan, they will have a better idea where their NGO will be deployed which should be sometime during the weekend or Monday.

We have been watching the news very closely the last couple of days and there are a lot of desperate people who have had little or any food/water for 5 days now and this is leading to some serious security concerns for the various NGO aid agencies. Mind you, she is nowhere near worried as I am...

Looking at the few pictures that are getting out, the destruction is immense.

I am in awe of the people who are able to go in, on the ground, and help in a meaningful way.

To your SO, I say: good luck, and Godspeed.

Indeed, the destruction appears incredible, and hard to comprehend. A recent set of pictures on The Atlantic just blows my mind.

Even the areas that were high enough, or far enough inland to avoid being flooded by the storm surge were flattened by the wind.

Was just reading this article about Tacloban's main sports stadium where many people took refuge from the typhoon. Sounds like Tacloban's version of the Superdome after Katrina now. Six days in that fetid place and no relief in sight. How awful for these people!

More photos of the area one week after the typhoon.

A couple of the photos show the sports stadium. Apparently it is a stout structure, and provided an important refuge during the peak of the storm. Also pictures of USMC Ospreys doing good work. Sadly, also lots of pictures of many body bags being buried in mass graves.

One other report I read (can't find it now) said that in some ways aiding the typhoon survivors is a more challenging problem than was the case after the 2004 tsunami. After the tsunami, more inland areas that were above the reach of the waves were undamaged, and could provide aid and shelter to the survivors. In the case of this typhoon, even inland areas were severely damaged from the wind. Much of the country was damaged to some extent, and surrounding areas are much less able to help the worst hit region.

What strikes me about this disaster, and it is true of others as well, is the crucial positive role a disciplined, well commanded (key words!) militry can play in supplying goods and services to victims. With Veterans Day just past, it is worth thinking of what good humanitarian work our military, and others, are doing. Not many aid groups have goodies like aircraft carriers to park offshore....

perhaps someone can explain something to me. i didnt get a chance to follow the details of this disaster. did the Philippines evacuate all of those people from the low-lying coastal zones ... ahead of the typhoon? because if an evacuation didnt take place, then I have no idea how people survived the flooding and the huge ocean waves created by that storm.

Pete2

I don't have a good answer to your question about how many people may have evacuated inland, but I caught one comment the other day. I forget if it was from TV or a news article.

A person was saying that the government had warned them of a dangerous "storm surge," which is not a particularly familiar term for them. The same person was saying if the government warnings had mentioned the word "tsunami" then everyone would have understood the magnitude of the danger involved. These people ride out typhoons all the time, so I don't think the extreme danger of Typhoon Haiyan was effectively communicated to the people.

Pacific typhoons generally are not as strong as Atlantic hurricanes so a high, sustained storm surge is less of a concern there than here in the US, which is probably why the term is not so familiar there.

A great many of them didn't survive the flooding. There have been numerous stories from survivors who managed to cling to something but watched loved ones washed away.

I believe the government did warn people to evacuate. However, this is a third world country, and many people probably didn't have the means to evacuate easily. And many others probably feared that what little they had would be looted if they left, and so stayed behind to guard their property. Also, one must ask, evacuate to where? While the upland areas were not flooded, they were still very hard hit from the winds.

A recent article At a Philippine Hospital, Survivors Face Quiet Despair gives some idea of the intensity of the storm, as seen from two miles inland in an area not flooded:

More US Military aid is arriving. See More Marines flood typhoon-ravaged Philippines It is worth noting that every USMC Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) does training and exercises in humanitarian assistance as part of their work up before embarking on a "float" (a cruise on amphibious ships). Humanitarian Assistance is one of the standard missions that an MEU trains for. Generally there are always a couple of MEUs cruising around, typically one in the Western Pacific or Indian Ocean, and in the Atlantic or Mediterranean. The other services also train for these kinds of missions, I just happen to be most familiar with the USMC.

EDIT: The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) mentioned above did a training mission in Humanitarian Assistance just this last August, in Austraila. Here is a link: Marines demonstrate humanitarian aid capabilities Note the following quote from the article:

well it looks like there was a definite failre by the Philippines Gov't to properly wanr their citizens about that storm. They have meteorologists over there, and they must have been advised by people from the US. Something went badly wrong with Gov't communications - very badly wrong.

Pete2

Not sure where you are getting your information sources from. The government did their best and helped evacuate 1000's of people before the typhoon came ashore.

Over 700,000 evacuated as Typhoon Haiyan hits Philippines

Mass evacuations in Philippines ahead of super typhoon

Mass evacuations as Philippines braces for powerful Typhoon Haiyan

Thousands of villagers evacuate as Typhoon nears Philippines

Also keep in mind, media and other communication infrastructure is not up the same standards and capabilities such as the USA, Canada and many European countries. As such, many people in the Philippines do not have tv, radio or internet access that we take for granted.

Furthermore, many people live in areas of the Philippines that we would view as 3rd world. These people do not have the luxury nor means of bugging out with a car or truck loaded down with food, water and other necessities to sustain life for days on end.

When you consider the difficulties New Orleans and Houston encountered in undertaking mass evacuations with a smaller storm, a much more developed infrastructure,a clear path to safety, and a more mobile population, it would seem that the current situation is just about insurmountable.

Indeed - mass evacuation is insurmountable if they did not have good roads, and there was no convenient high ground where they could go. Even if some sort of hill did exist, how exactly would 250,000 people take shelter there, without buildings or solid walls?

there is a real problem here. Typhoon Haiyan is not the last large hurricane that we are going to see. What exactly are we going to do to provide shelter for all the people in coastal regions of the third world - if these storms get bigger in magnitude in the future? I dont see an obvious answer to that question.

Pete2

Here's an article about the importance and scarcity of water for the survivors.

One danger I normally don't think about which is mentioned over and over in this disaster is salt water intrusion, whether into the municipal supply or even local well water. It makes stored water all the more precious, however, in this case, anything someone might have stored at home was swept away or crushed under a collapsed house. Was that ever an issue after Katrina or Sandy? I can't recall ever seeing that mentioned.

I realize that for millions of people, a three-hour round trip to gather water a day is routine (and primiarly a woman's job), for the people in the article who are forced to do it to get water, that's a heavy burden on top of all the other things they have to deal with now.

If you are dealing with a continental coastline or a large island, you can travel a fairly short distance and avoid the worst of it, especially if you have good weather forecasting. The problem lies in convincing large number to disrupt their routines.....

This event has made me re-think 3 days of food/water on hand. A weeks worth
(including pet food) is a better choice, and provisions to go longer (water filters,etc.)

TeacherRO.... stocking stuffers.. $18 ea. in the 4 pack

http://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-Products-SP...ater+filtration

Yeah, at least a week is a good idea. While I sometimes don't practice what I preach I do try to keep a decent stock of canned stuff on hand. And I am pretty good about keeping drinking water stored. In SD the main issue I normally face is winter storms.