mother of all typoons

[Terpe]

12 ways to stay safe during a typhoon


Residents of areas in the path of Super Typhoon Yolanda must brace for disease and other health hazards it brings

Typhoons and floods bring with them a spectrum of health hazards, from electrocutions to snakebites, and from leptospirosis to food poisoning.

The Department of Health lists the following tips to help those experiencing the brunt of Super Typhoon Yolanda (international codename Haiyan) stay safe.

1. Don't leave the house unless absolutely necessary. Children should be prohibited from playing in the rain or flood to prevent contracting leptospirosis and other water-borne diseases.
2. With Yolanda's strong winds, those outdoors should watch out for flying objects or debris.
3. Do not use gas or electrical appliances that have been flooded.
4. Protect food and water from contaminants by keeping them in sealed containers. Food should be well-cooked.
5. To ensure that water is safe for drinking, boil it for 3 minutes or chlorinate it.
6. Stay away from places that will likely be inundated by rising water or waves such as beaches and riverbanks. Stay away from landslide-prone areas.
7. When evacuation is necessary, switch off your home's main power supply, place appliances and belongings on higher locations and close windows before leaving.
8. Wear warm and dry clothing.
9. Consult a doctor immediately once you or any member of your household shows symptoms of disease to prevent infecting others in the evacuation center. Common diseases or infections that spread in evacuation centers are coughs and colds, acute gastroenteritis, skin and eye infections, measles, dengue, leptospirosis and hepatitis A.
10. Properly dispose of all waste.
11. Wash your hands before and after eating and using the toilet.
12. Stay away from hanging wires and unstable structures (damaged houses, bridges, ports near rough waters, etc).

Meanwhile, Assistant Health Secretary Eric Tayag assured the public that DOH teams are on standby for relief and medical operations for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda

Source:-
http://www.rappler.com/nation/43248-...h-tips-typhoon

[KeithD]

OK. We went out at 9pm, about 20 miles south of Manila, lots of trees down already, roads blocked, and we never even noticed the wind in the hotel

[gWaPito]

Just received Facebook message. She is ok .

Great news

[cheekee]

Just heard from fiancée. No rain in central cebu at the moment. Wind is moderate.

[Terpe]

Just heard from fiancée. No rain in central cebu at the moment. Wind is moderate.

That's very good news cheekee

It's island hopping has made predictions difficult but the storm seems to moving away now.

The BBC are really focussing on this and it's making me nervous

[Doc Alan]

Sensible advice was published by the Philippines Department of Health ( “ During the typhoon season “ , see
http://www.doh.gov.ph/node/322.html
), before this super typhoon. Thanks to Peter for his post ( # 61 ) and others .


Of course we are all anxiously following the news about this typhoon as it moves across the Philippines, towards Vietnam and China.


In September and October 2009 typhoons Ketsana and Parma claimed hundreds of deaths and affected several million people. At that time the government was criticised for failing to prepare for the disasters ( and the international community struggled to honour aid pledges ). One of the most serious threats to health was leptospirosis, spread through contact with water contaminated by urine of dogs, rats and other animals. Many victims were infected through open cuts and sores while wading through dirty floodwater, with a few hundred deaths. There was a big outbreak of measles in the Philippines after Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991.


The conditions listed by the DOH ( coughs and colds, acute gastroenteritis/ food poisoning, skin and eye infections, measles, dengue, and hepatitis A ) are typical of those which may occur in evacuation areas from natural disasters.


They may be vaccine - preventable and or antibiotic - preventable / treatable ( flu, rotavirus, cholera, tetanus, typhoid, polio, measles and hepatitis A, meningitis, leptospirosis, malaria ).


Natural disasters do have features in common. 9/10 are due to water-related hazards like flooding ; and weather-related hazards like storms, typhoons and droughts. The rest are geophysical, like earthquakes and volcanoes. Of deaths caused by such disasters in the past two decades, almost all have been in developing countries ( 2/5 in Asia ). In recent years, half the people affected by natural disasters lived in areas of conflict.


The risks for epidemics after natural disasters are not just due to chaos following them, but also population displacement. Factors include safe water and sanitation ; degree of crowding ; underlying health status of the population ( malnutrition ) ; and availability of health care services.


Since 2005 there has been a 10 year UN plan in an attempt to make the world safer from natural disasters. Sadly the numbers of such disasters have been increasing, whether related to climate change ; environmental degradation ; increased population of cities prone to earthquakes / floods ; or conflicts.


Better weather forecasting techniques and communications help to make countries such as the Philippines prepare better than in the past for natural disasters. Despite this, a typhoon of the size currently being experienced IS a major challenge.



Let’s hope the country gets the international support it needs. I know ALL members take this seriously and our thoughts are with those directly involved.

[gWaPito]

Good post Alan. .A very interesting informative read as always.

I'm dreading the coming hours

[Rosie1958]

Very well done to Terpe and Doc Alan for some very informative posts

I can't begin to believe what those poor people must be going through, god bless them all

[gWaPito]

The world waits to see powerful typhoon's devastation in the Philippines

By Michael Martinez and Jethro Mullen, CNN
November 9, 2013 -- Updated 0102 GMT (0902 HKT)


Super Typhoon Haiyan makes landfall


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Most of Cebu province has no landline, cell phone or radio service
• Relief worker wonders about 350,000 people in tents and shelters during typhoon
• With the new day in Philippines, military helicopters will take aerial survey
• "Around 20" people drown after storm surge, state news agency says, citing TV reports

Are you in the affected area? Send us images and video, but please stay safe.
(CNN) -- As dawn broke Saturday in the Philippines, the devastation of Super Typhoon Haiyan was expected to become better known a day after the storm -- perhaps the strongest ever -- rampaged across the central isles of the archipelago.
An early report by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council indicated at least three people were killed, but there were widespread fears of a much higher death toll. At least seven people were hurt, according the council's report on Friday.
The destruction is expected to be catastrophic. Storm clouds covered the entire Philippines, stretching 1,120 miles -- equal to a distance between Florida and Canada. The deadly wind field, or tropical storm force winds, covered an area the size of Montana or Germany.
The typhoon first roared onto the country's eastern island of Samar at 4:30 a.m. Friday, flooding streets and knocking out power and communications in many areas of the region of Eastern Visayas, and then continued its march, barreling into five other Philippine islands.
Then, predawn Saturday, it headed toward Vietnam.
Photos: Super Typhoon Haiyan


Typhoon Haiyan one of the biggest ever
Super typhoon's financial impact
Philippines braces for super typhoon
Haiyan weakened Saturday and was no longer a super typhoon, rather a typhoon with sustained winds of 145 mph (230 kph). But the storm could return to super typhoon status Saturday. The center of Haiyan will land again Sunday morning near the Vietnamese cities of Da Nang and Hue.
Philippine military helicopters were scheduled to take aerial surveys of the damage Saturday. Relief agencies in Manila were expected to begin traveling as long as 18 hours to reach the worst hit isles. Meanwhile, Haiyan was over the South China Sea on Saturday morning.
After the storm passed over his family's home in Cebu City, Chris Ducker told CNN by phone Saturday that his family was safe, but "it's been quite a harrowing day to say the least." Part of his roof was ripped off, leaking water, he said.
When Haiyan hit Cebu City on Friday morning, it awakened Ducker.
"The first thing I noticed straightaway as soon as my eyes opened was the howling of the winds around the house," said Ducker, whose home is in the mountains with a 360-degree view.
"I've never experienced winds like this in my entire existence. I've lived in this country for 13 years and I've been through a few earthquakes, I've been through plenty of these storms. We get hit quite regularly with storms, as you probably already know. But, yes, this was something else. The rain, when I looked out of the window, the rain wasn't falling. The rain was being pushed almost at, you know, a 100-degree angle right in front of our house. It was pretty incredible," he added.
Most of the Cebu province couldn't be contacted by landlines, cell phones or radio Saturday, said Dennis Chiong, operations officer for the province's disaster risk and emergency management.
Among the early reports is how one inaccessible town, Daanbantayan, has more than 3,000 residents who "badly need food, water and shelter because most of the houses there are damaged due to the storm," Chiong said.
The town of Santa Fe in Cebu saw 20% to 30% of its residents losing their houses, but officials weren't able to determine fatalities because roads were washed out and phone service was down, information officer Marvin Camay said on the province's Facebook page.
Defenseless against the storm's might
On Bohol Island, power was still out Saturday, but cell phone coverage was restored and damaged roads were being reopened, said one relief worker.
But the big concern was how did the typhoon impact the island's 350,000 people living in tents and temporary shelters since last month's earthquake, said Joe Curry of Catholic Relief Services on Bohol.
"This one was incredibly intense and big," Curry told CNN. "The strength of this typhoon is phenomenal and the way it moved across the Philippines is something of serious concern."
He feared that the hardest hit islands will experience the most fatalities.
"Those are the ones that will have the most loss," Curry said. "There are a lot of rural areas, a lot of small islands that are affected. We don't know how they can protect themselves from a typhoon of this strength."
Clarson Fruelda, of Cebu City, said residents were cleaning up dirt, leaves, coconuts, and tree branches from their homes Friday afternoon, when the storm had passed. A CNN iReporter, she described the Filipino spirit as "waterproof."
"The winds were the strongest that I felt in more than 20 years," Fruelda told CNN. "These past few weeks were really tough for my wife and I and probably for Cebuanos as well since it was just a few weeks ago when we were hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake.
"We would proudly say we survived 2013 and bring it on 2014," Fruelda added.
Photos: Major storms of the last 10 years


The state-run Philippines News Agency, citing unconfirmed TV reports, said "around 20" people drowned after a storm surge struck Friday morning in Palo, a town on the island of Leyte, which abuts Samar.
"Most of the fatalities sustained massive injuries in the head and upper part of the body, indicative that strong waves dashed them against hard objects," it reported, adding that nine of the dead were minors.
Experts predicted the casualty toll would soar once aid workers get to the hardest-hit areas, many of which were totally isolated -- no phone service, no electricity.
About 125,000 people took refuge in evacuation centers, and hundreds of flights were canceled.
With sustained winds of 195 mph (315 kph) and gusts as strong as 235 mph (380 kph), Haiyan may be the strongest tropical cyclone to hit land anywhere in recorded history. It will take further analysis after the storm passes to establish whether it is a record.
The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale describes winds of 157 mph (252 kph) or higher as capable of causing catastrophic damage. "A high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months."
Haiyan was on a westward track when it raced into Samar traveling at 25 mph (41 kph), which meant the worst was over quickly. But the damage was severe. "About 90% of the infrastructure and establishments were heavily damaged," Gwendolyn Pang, the secretary general of the Philippine National Red Cross, told CNNI.
By early Saturday, the speed had dropped slightly, to 23 mph (37 kph).
Category 5 strength
About 25 areas in the Philippines were hit, Pang said, adding that assessment teams were prepared to enter the stricken areas as soon as conditions allowed.
But they cannot do it alone, she said: "We will be definitely needing more support for this one."
Floodwater was as high as 10 feet in some areas.
Track the typhoon
Maryann Zamora, a field communications specialist for the charity World Vision, said her organization "has been working through so many disasters, so many typhoons -- but this is quite different."
"This is the strongest I ever felt so far," she said by phone from the island of Cebu.
Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Yolanda, retained much of its force as it moved westward Friday with sustained winds of 295 kph (183 mph), which put it well above the 252 kph threshold for a Category 5 hurricane, the highest category on the Saffir--Simpson scale.
Video showed streets flooded with debris and sheets of metal flying through the air.
Gov. Roger Mercado of Southern Leyte, a province in Eastern Visayas near the storm's path, said Friday morning that fallen trees had made all roads impassable. "We don't know the extent of the damage," he said. "We are trying to estimate this. We are prepared, but this is really a wallop."
With sea travel suspended in many areas, more than 3,000 travelers were stranded in ports, the council said.
Meteorologists said it maintained super typhoon intensity throughout its passage over the Philippines. A super typhoon has surface winds that sustain speeds of more than 149 mph (240 kph) for at least a minute, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
iReport: Heavy rains as Philippines braces for typhoon
CNN's Aliza Kassim, Karen Smith, Elwyn Lopez, Judy Kwon, Taylor Ward, Brandon Miller, Ivan Cabrera and Mari Ramos contributed to this report. Paula Hancocks in Manila also contributed.

Source :-
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/08/wo...html?hpt=hp_t1

[mickcant]

Very well done to Terpe and Doc Alan for some very informative posts

I can't begin to believe what those poor people must be going through, god bless them all

I second that.
Mick.

[RickyR]

Any news from family, friends and members affected?

[Terpe]

As for us we've not been able to secure any information from those family members who may be affected.
We're still trying and we're also being helped by family in Mindanao but most communications are still down.
Most of our family members who wanted to physically go and see have not managed to find any travel. Ferries not yet moving etc.
Just got to sit and wait......

[Michael Parnham]

I second that.
Mick.

Pleased your back Mick, I was a little concerned as to where you'd disappeared to!

[alesypalsy]

We all in the same predicament here, its such a catastrophe and i hope its one that the Philippine people will pull though it,,,
we also waiting to hear from loved ones

[gWaPito]

Pleased your back Mick, I was a little concerned as to where you'd disappeared to!

Great to see you back Mick. ...Like alespalsy, we all wait in abominable anticipation for good news of our loved ones and dear friends from The Philippines

[cheekee]

I have spoken to my fiancée in central Cebu. Weather is fine there today. Power has been back on since this morning. Just waiting for internet to be reconnected. I'm not sure about other areas.

I'm hoping everyone is safe and you all hear from you're loved ones soon.

[Michael Parnham]

Thank's Mark!

[cheekee]

Internet is back.

My fiancée is walking around Ayala. She can see a few damaged trees.

She tells me the worst hit area she has heard is Tacloban City. Visayas.

Houses/buildings/cars and sea walls there damaged. :(

3 missing persons reported. 10 people at least died.

[mickcant]

Pleased your back Mick, I was a little concerned as to where you'd disappeared to!

Hi Michael
I have not been away, I do not post much becous my Phillipines experances are getting out of date (like me) but I join in where I can.
Mick

[Michael Parnham]

Hi Michael
I have not been away, I do not post much becous my Phillipines experances are getting out of date (like me) but I join in where I can.
Mick

Thanks Mick, at the time I was worried because it was reported that IOW had been hit the hardest during the storm!

[Michael Parnham]

Thanks for that Cheekee

Internet is back.

My fiancée is walking around Ayala. She can see a few damaged trees.

She tells me the worst hit area she has heard is Tacloban City. Visayas.

Houses/buildings/cars and sea walls there damaged. :(

3 missing persons reported. 10 people at least died.

Thanks Cheekee, pleased your lady is safe, so sorry to hear others have lost relatives!

[mickcant]

Thanks Mick, at the time I was worried because it was reported that IOW had been hit the hardest during the storm!

Re the storm this week, I do not think it was too bad here, at least not in the middle of the Island where I am.

It was blowing hard on the Monday when I took "Charlie" my dog his first walk around 6am, and it spooked him and he did not want to go far (he just turns round if he does not want to go the route we normally take)

In the last bigger storm of 1987 Shanklin Pier went and many roofs, it was nothing like that.

Mick.

[anvee]

Here is the youtube video of ABS CBN news, please watch their latest vids about the Typhoon. They're spoken in Tagalog so please prepare a translator with you but videos say a millions of words anyways, so im pretty sure youll know whats being shown. please pray for our countrymen, they need it now more than anything. also your donations can be given in ABS CBN sagid kapamilya bank accounts. just google them. thanks

[anvee]

at least 100 people died in Tacloban City alone. there are still more than 40 brgys in visayas region that has been affected.

[KeithD]

Thousands likely to be dead according to some local reports, with 1000 dead in one place alone.

[grahamw48]

Yes, I think it's inevitable that the casualties will be in the 1,000s. Just tragic.

[gWaPito]

Yes, I think it's inevitable that the casualties will be in the 1,000s. Just tragic.

I wonder what to that guy on twitter. ..remember Graham. .you posted a link on him. ..He was in the City worst hit. ..He was going to take more pictures then come back. ..He never came back

[marksroomspain]

Channel 4 news reporting at least 1,000 have lost their lives already in Talcoban alone, pics of dead children shown truly devastating