Viet Nam seems to have dodged the bullet. There were winds and rain of course and flooding even in Saigon, which is way off the path, but the eye turned northward and the storm spent most of its remaining ferocity out at sea. Oddly though, I saw one news report that showed a tornado that formed over Hue with a well-defined funnel and everything. I don’t think that’s ever happened before. As far as I could glean from the report (in Vietnamese), it didn’t touch down (nor was there any mention of it being filled with sharks), but it still freaked people out.
My friend Ellen quit her job and sold all of her belongings and has been traveling the world for the last 18 months or so. Guess where she happened to be when Haiyan hit the Phillipines?
That’s unlucky. 
8 crushed looting rice in Philippines
It happened when thousands of survivors stormed a government rice warehouses. Aid is still only trickling in five days after the storm.
Jeez, a breakdown of peace and order, beyond the reach of major law enforcement units. Sad to see it well into this millennium.
You’d think that relief agencies would understand the limitations of delivering aid in these situations and be prepared to do air drops or something. I know they don’t like to do that since the targeting can be off but if shipments are getting raided before they get to their destination anyway, shouldn’t they at least have this as a backup plan?
I thought I was the only Filipino here.
About 2,000 bodies have been recovered so far. Reports say that it is reasonable to expect 10,000 dead. Many places have not yet been contacted yet and some bodies may have been pulled back to sea.
Looting is rampant. Even the relief team of the local Red Cross was ransacked before reaching its destination. It’s very disheartening. There is no peace and order. I would understand if people loot for food and water but some of them are even taking appliances from the establishments.
Airdrops are doable, one of the challenges is the specific mechanics. Drop a pallet and you could very well end up crushing a few folks, scatter smaller bundles and many end up on rooftops or floating around or in other dangerous to retrieve places. If you can get it to the area with a team, its more likely to be spread out to the most people possible rather than one guy bringing up a truck and with a few strong friends grab a pallet with food and water for hundreds all for themselves.
Looks like the situation is improving. The US Marines have landed, and an American aircraft carrier has arrived to serve as a support base. There’s an old airstrip on the island that the Americans built in WWII, and flights are coming in every few minutes now, they say. Still a desperate situation though.
Just heard China has been shamed into upping its aid contribution. There’s been criticism that while other countries are donating millions of dollars, all China would pledge was $100,000.
Lots of ribbing here between majority Filipinos and ethnic Chinese who are understandably warm to mainland China despite their A-holic behavior regarding the Spratlys issue. If I were the Chinese in the present situation, I’ll give the biggest, baddest meanest relief package and let Filipinos squirm during negotiations.
BBC was pointing out even Ikea gave more than China.
Got a brief message from my friend in Ormoc. House is trashed but everyone is ok.
Well, Ikea does have more influence than China. Anyone who’s ever tried to assemble something from there has no doubt that they are Satan’s representative on Earth.
I stopped counting the number of US warships stationed just off Leyte island and nearby Samar. You’d think it was 1944 all over again. This just shows it takes a powerful navy to gain fast access to the islands during a major calamity. The Philippine national government and the municipalities of Leyte are still at each other’s throats for being “slow and unresponsive.”
They keep forgetting the Philippines is a poor country.
I am in fairly regular contact with my friend in ormoc now. From the sound of it its going to be awhile for things to get up and running. The USN has a ship there helping with water and supply distribution. The few store that are open have very limited supply as apparently many of the small inter island cargo shippers are out of commission. She has no power beyond a solar usb charger for her phone which works. Otherwise its just sifting the rubble for anything useful and waiting in line for opportunities to get food, water, and other supplies.
Ummm… Americans aboard those relief choppers, a friendly suggestion:
Don’t airlift survivors (in one case a little girl with no adult companion) unless it’s a medical emergency. Most of those airlifted to nearby islands, even to Manila, are completely stranded with no money. Some are not even sure where they were taken, “Manila? I wanted to go to Cebu!!!”
Stay safe & hydrated, **chowching **& the_diego. Sending hopeful thoughts your way…