You Won't Understand The True Devastation Of Typhoon Haiyan Until You Read These Quotes
"Ma, just let go. Save yourself." Though Typhoon Haiyan has passed through the Philippines, the horrors are by no means over. Photos from the storm's aftermath depict an apocalyptic scene, with entire towns leveled, hundred of thousands displaced and bodies strewn throughout the streets.
By Sadho Ram — 12 Nov 2013, 11:03 AM — Updated almost 11 years ago
"Ma, just let go. Save yourself."
A man brings his lifeless 6-year-old daughter to the morgue at the downtown area in Tacloban City, one of the fatalities in the storm surge whipped up by Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”
Image via imgur.com“Ma, just let go. Save yourself,” said the girl, whose body was pierced by wooden splinters from houses crushed by Supertyphoon “Yolanda.” “I crawled over to her, and I tried to pull her up. But she was too weak. It seemed she had already given up,” the mother said.
“And then I just let go,” she said, crying.
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People cover their noses to block the smell of bodies in Tacloban
Four days after the typhoon struck, only a trickle of assistance has made it to affected communities along the eastern seaboard, which bore the brunt of Typhoon Haiyan.
Image via turner.comRichard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross says, "We have bodies in the water, bodies on the bridges, bodies on the side of the road."
People make their way across a flooded street in Shangsi, China, on November 11. Haiyan moved toward Vietnam and south China after devastating the Philippines.
Image via turner.com"Right now, we don't have enough water," typhoon survivor Roselda Sumapit told CNN in Tacloban, a city of more than 200,000 that was flattened by the storm. What they can get may not be clean, she said -- but she added, "We still drink it, because we need to survive."
cnn.comWhen Philippine Air Force C-130s arrived at its destroyed airport just after dawn, along with several commercial and private flights, mothers raised their babies high above their heads in the rain, in hopes of being prioritized.
"I was pleading with the soldiers. I was kneeling and begging because I have diabetes," said Helen Cordial, whose house was destroyed in the storm. "Do they want me to die in this airport? They are stone hearted."
Residents carry bags of rice from a warehouse that they stormed due to a shortage of food in the typhoon-ravaged city of Tacloban
Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms in recorded history, laid waste to the Philippines.
Image via turner.comThe city of Tacloban, capital of the Leyte province, is “almost totally flattened”
As many as 10,000 people are feared to be dead in the province, with another 500 dead and 2,000 missing in the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar.
Image via buzzfed.com“I’ve never in my 17 years of work seen people so desperate to get food,” Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross says.
"Patients are overflowing from the regional hospital in Tacloban. There are dead people everywhere. There is no water or power. Volunteers are trying to manage the disaster. It looks as if nuclear bombs were dropped."
It’s the first time the Philippines has experienced a disaster of this magnitude. Despite the precautions, this was beyond all expectations.
Image via edmontonjournal.comAn aerial shot of destroyed houses on Victory Island in eastern Samar province, central Philippines, four days after Typhoon Haiyan hit
Haiyan brought sustained winds of 235km/h (147mph), with gusts of 275 km/h (170 mph), with waves as high as 15m (45ft), bringing up to 400mm (15.75 inches) of rain in places.
Image via telegraph.co.ukMaking matters worse, new reports suggest another tropical cyclone will hit the Philippines, just four days after Haiyan struck
Officials estimate more than 10,000 people have been killed, with the death toll expected to mount as recovery efforts begin
The birth of Bea Joy Sagales was a rare piece of good news in the city of Tacloban, where thousands of residents are believed to have died and many more have lost their homes in Typhoon Haiyan
In one rare moment of joy amid the chaos, 21-year-old Emily Ortega gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Bea Joy Sagales, whose lifetime will surely see a happier and safer homeland.
Image via buzzfed.com"She is so beautiful. I will name her Bea Joy in honour of my mother, Beatriz," Sagalis, 21, whispered shortly after giving birth.
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