By Jaime Ortega.
It seems unlikely that the Filipino people will overcome the misfortune caused by the type five typhoon that struck the island. Following the devastating passage of Super Typhoon ‘ Yolanda ‘ last Friday, the Japan Meteorological Agency warned of the arrival of Hurricane ‘Pudol ‘ , also called by the Philippine Atmospheric Institutions ‘ Zoraida.’
Panic seizes the Philippines , that started through social networks to alarm of the next typhoon with a mixture of helplessness, shock and hysteria. National newspapers have to make emergency runs to warn of the situation.
Schools remain suspended with the maximum state of emergency and the authorities have organized each ‘ barangay ‘ (municipality ) in record time to prepare a new evacuation. The most disadvantaged areas to are set to abandon their slums and shelter homes and go inside schools to be safe.
The 360 MPH winds devastated the Central Visayas and hit with greater intensity in northern Mindanao. According to the media Tacloban City in Leyte province , know recalls the affected zone as a ghost town that has been the most affected by the wrath of nature explains Leyte Governor ” are more than 10,000 dead and do not know the specific amount of disappeared . ”
The northern part of Cebu has also been devastated by the storm , and its citizens want the press to help focus not all aid in Tacloban . Also, on the island of Samar , the number of fatalities has increased within hours , from 200 to over 400 , and is required for blood donations to meet the hospitals.
blocked roads
” It is now essential within this emergency to plan fast, effective and direct help, but it is very difficult to access places that we need because the roads are blocked by trees, roofs torn off , debris and remnants of the tragedy ,” says Leo Mercado , volunteer development aid .
The most powerful families in Cebu, many of them of Spanish origin , have made available their boats , homes and machinery to rebuild the country as soon as possible . According Butch Barangay Cebuano entrepreneur Mactan Island , ” is now essentially immediate assistance , we need tarps, screws, tools , rice , canned foods , water , antibiotics , food for babies and children and work material to open the sidewalks on the streets and building again . ”
The communications in the most affected are intermittent and do not yet have electricity , no running water and almost no immediate hope.
Hundreds Corpses
In addition to the strong winds had to withstand floods which rendered survival of people who were at home but at ground level . The bodies are in the hundreds and identification will be extremely slow and unsustainable .
Most of the victims are people of extreme poverty , whose houses of straw, cardboard, or plastic palm trees have disappeared , and their unique lifestyles, farms, ‘ jeepneys ‘ ( the minibuses Filipinos use as means of transport) , the fishing boats …
This catastrophe only adds to misery , lack of preparation , infections , major looting malls, homes and hotels. The news that appear in newspapers and on television about missing deaths and every misfortune in particular are so alarming that it is impossible to remain unscathed from their pain.
According to Ara Sumalignon , Divine Word Hospital nurse in Tacloban , “I had never experienced anything like this , we could not meet the number of people begging for help, did not have enough blood and the number of casualties was so high , we filled the emergency room , we had no power and the generators were not working , I thought it was the end of the world, could only pray and mourn . ”
‘ They look like hungry zombies ‘
Overwhelming is the testimony of a fisherman holding the body of her eldest daughter of only 9 years while wandering barefoot and injured with the rest of her family. Do not let anyone touch your child and only repeated the name of his wife and the rest of her seven children .
GMA Network television is one of the few that has accessed the destruction by boat , after facing major storms , and described the situation as ” apocalyptic , zombies seem hungry , injured , dehydrated and completely in shock .” Thanks to the advent of cameras to the island we have been able to see the messages left y its inhabitants written on chalkboards , walls and roofs to inform their families of the neighboring islands that were still alive.
Thus being distributed lists and generating virtual databases to find people. The movement could find your loved one ‘ and is receiving massive visits . The whole country is keen to help and a powerful sense of patriotism flies the flag in the social profiles in the media that are permanently connected to events and in general in the Philippine environment .
Now is the time to rebuild , to fight again , to go out with machetes , ropes and the few tools they have, and rebuild their homes . People so accustomed to misfortunes that on success . With their faith and gentle nature people show a smiling face to a cruel natural catastrophe that may not end yet .
