Aerial view of Guiuan, Eastern Samar
Image credit: Armed Forces of the Philippines
Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Yolanda, is considered to be the strongest storm of the year. It made landfall in the central Philippines late last week, causing mass devastation in much of Visayas, most particularly Eastern Samar and the city of Tacloban.
Tacloban City
Image credit: Reuters
In times of natural calamity, people often ask what they should know and how they could help. Here are the three things people need to know regarding Typhoon Haiyan's impact on the Philippines.
1. Why is it also called Typhoon Yolanda? How did it cause so much devastation?
The meteorological agency in the Philippines, PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Association) uses their own naming system for typhoons. The naming is done alphabetically, using common Filipino names, which makes Yolanda the 24th typhoon to make landfall on the Philippines this year. This is a list of the names used this year.
Yolanda is the deadliest cyclone to make landfall in the Philippines in recorded history. The death toll is expected to be 10,000 for Tacloban alone, while cost of relief and rebuild for the affected regions is something that will be an issue for the Philippine government for the years to come.
I can't say much about the meteorological science talk about Yolanda - here's an article to help clear that up - but I can say something about the central region of the Philippines. While Luzon and Mindanao - the other two main regions - are much bigger land masses, Visayas is different as it is a group of islands clustered together.
Image credit: Philippines Holidays
The storm surge from Yolanda hit the islands of Samar and Leyte the hardest, as the Pacific Ocean is right on their eastern borders. The other Visayan Islands also suffered from the damage brought on by the typhoon.
2. Where should I stay tuned for updates?
Al Jazeera English's coverage is the best one I've seen from international news sources, with BBC World's coming in at second. However, there's still no beating the coverage from the perspective of Filipino journalists. Most of them tweet regularly in English, including the award-winning Ces Drilon and the ABS-CBN News account. The #YolandaPH hashtag also contains tonnes of real-time information from people on the ground.
This is the footage taken by ABS-CBN journalist Atom Araullo, who was on the ground in Tacloban City when the storm surge arrived. It's mostly in Tagalog, but it has gone viral around the world for showing the extent of the damage Yolanda had done even on its arrival.
My favourite Philippine news site for Yolanda coverage is Rappler, whose professional journalists and citizen journalists are working together to push stories out as quickly as possible.
3. How can I help?
The New Zealand government is already working with the Philippines, having donated $2 million to relief efforts. What survivors need right now is food, medicine and blankets, and they're not coming in fast enough, and there are concerns that there isn't enough for everyone.
If you have a few bucks to spare, donate to these organisations:
My favourite Philippine news site for Yolanda coverage is Rappler, whose professional journalists and citizen journalists are working together to push stories out as quickly as possible.
3. How can I help?
The New Zealand government is already working with the Philippines, having donated $2 million to relief efforts. What survivors need right now is food, medicine and blankets, and they're not coming in fast enough, and there are concerns that there isn't enough for everyone.
If you have a few bucks to spare, donate to these organisations:
Rappler has an entire page's worth of other relief callouts. Check out the "Overseas/Online" section to see how you can help organisations on the ground. 1 New Zealand dollar is worth around 36 Philippine pesos right now, so even a spare 5 or 10 bucks goes a long way.
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