I realize that there's a thread like this already, but it's only related to raising money by buying fraises, I believe. This is about the storm itself.

To give some background, there are three main regions of the Philippines: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Here's a map.


Luzon is that BIG island in the north. It's also where Manila is located, and where most Pinoy TFM players come from, including me.

Mindanao is the island in the south. I don't know of any TFM players from this region.

Visayas is a bunch of small islands in between Luzon and Mindanao. This is where the second-largest city is (Cebu). I know of one forumer from here (Greekyogurt if I'm not mistaken). This is also where MANY of my relatives reside.

This was where the storm hit.

For those that feel that this storm doesn't matter that much, I'll explain. Yes, we've gone through similar catastrophes in 2012 (Bopha?), 2011 (Washi), 2010 (Megi), and 2009 (Ketsana).

Haiyan was worse than all of them combined.

For one thing, it moved fast. This is normally a good thing when we're talking about hurricanes/typhoons/cyclones. However, this was NOT good for us since that meant it mostly maintained its strength as it plowed through the Visayas and ended up hitting Palawan (that really long island to the left of the Philippines) as a Category 4 storm (this was as strong as Hurricane Ike at its peak, to give perspective).

Second, it hit Visayas. There are some areas of Visayas that are pretty developed, like Cebu City. However, the thing is that since the Visayas is a bunch of islands, it made landfall not once, not twice, but SIX times. It mostly made landfall in areas that are really quite poor, most notably in Guiuan, Eastern Samar and Palo, Leyte.

For those that don't know these areas, I'll explain. Samar and Leyte are the main islands in Eastern Visayas, one of the poorest regions in the Philippines. And the Philippines is pretty poor. Leyte is the island where Tacloban is, the city where most of the media has focused their attention on.

Third, it was literally at record-breaking strength. For those that are gonna be like, 'NO, NANCY WAS STRONGER', measurements of wind speeds from the 40s-60s aren't that accurate, and they tend to be exaggerated. Also, those storms made landfall as Category 1 or 2 storms (ofc, there were still many victims unfortunately) while Haiyan made landfall near peak strength. This meant that it still had winds going from 145-190 MPH when it struck right onto some of the least prepared areas. I'm not trying to offend any Waray (the term for people from these areas) people. It's just that storms don't hit the Visayas that often. They usually hit Bicol (in South Luzon) or the Cagayan region (to the North).

To give yet some more perspective on how strong that was, you all remember Superstorm Sandy, right? Or St. Jude?

The peak winds for those storms were at 90 MPH.

So for the British and Americans that went through those storms, just imagine how much worse it would have been for them.

Finally, the storm surge was almost like a tsunami. I've watched videos of storm surges from Katrina, and please excuse me if I'm wrong, because I haven't gone through this type of storm personally, but the water went up slowly in that video. With Haiyan, it went from nothing to 6 feet (at least from the videos that I watched. In the worst-hit areas, it went up to 11 feet I believe) in 30 MINUTES. There is actual video of this on YouTube since several newscasters were in the area.

So, the storm hit, and I thought that it wasn't that bad since by 5 PM (the time when the storm had been hitting Cavite, my province which is to the south of Manila, the hardest) the announced death toll was at 7. I know that it was really foolish to think that, but hindsight is 20/20. please remember that this storm had been on the news for 2-3 days and that government officials were really trying their best to prepare. They knew that it would be bad, they just didn't know it would be THAT bad. Also, I wasn't aware of the fact that communications had been cut off in all of Eastern Visayas. Keep in mind that this is a region of around 4 million people. And the descriptions of people that were there were simply 'strong winds, but no rain' or 'strong rain, but no winds'. Only one government official at the moment said 'strong winds and strong rain'. Even the fact that there was no electricity didn't bother me since that happened with Cat. 1 or Cat. 2 storms whenever they hit Manila. So, I was sitting there thinking that this storm was a dud since, while the footage of the storm from Tacloban in the morning was pretty bad, it wasn't at its worst and no new footage was coming in. Also, I'd seen worse during Ike and I lived in Cavite, an area that was merely brushed by the storm, so I couldn't understand how bad it was.

That changed by tomorrow.

I turned on the TV and saw that they were finally able to communicate with Ted Failon, someone who they were talking with on the radio yet lost communication with at 7 AM. He managed to bring all his footage to Cebu, and it was devastating. I realize this is an understatement, but that is the only word I can think of.

When communications were cut off in Tacloban, the city where he was stationed, there had been no storm surge yet. All I saw was metal flying off roofs and palm trees struggling to stay up against the wind.

But now, he showed all of the Philippines (at least, everyone that was able to watch) the now famous videos of the storm surge rising and cleaning out the city. The footage he showed was horrifying because he showed areas literally flattened by the storm. There was one church he showed in the background called Santo Nino. it was surrounded by collapsed structures.

My mom lived in Tacloban for a couple of years and was quite familiar with the area.

She covered her mouth in shock. Why? That church was FAR from the coastline.

It got worse. They also showed even more now well-known footage of people storming one of the two malls in Tacloban.

People now estimate that electricity will be knocked out in the worst-hit areas, namely Eastern Visayas, for three months. Looting is reported to have become organized, with gangs bringing weapons. I don't want to believe it, but I actually wouldn't be surprised. No government could've been prepared for something of this magnitude. Not even the USA. And remember, the Philippine government had been preparing a lot for this. But they had so much trouble getting in the area, something that is ticking me off. Even now, a week later, there are still multiple reports of corpses littering the streets and people in Leyte receiving NO aid. Hospitals being forced to close down due to running out of medicine. People leaving in droves and swarming airports. It has become apocalyptic in that area. The media speaks of 'waking up' from the storm and whatnot, but I'm not sure if that'll happen for years. I believe in my country. I really do. But this is a disaster of the worst magnitude, and it has brought everyone there to its knees. Not even the rich people were safe. Some footage circulating from the storm was taken by the wife of the mayor of Tacloban. These people basically live in a mansion-like house.

I made this thread to talk about how bad it is. You guys talk about praying for the Philippines, and you've probably seen footage of rubble-filled areas multiple times, but I really wanted to talk about how bad this storm was. I'm guessing that 75-90% of Leyte was destroyed. Samar? Maybe 40-60% (the northern areas, where my relatives live, are mostly OK, aside from no electricity and communications. That's why my estimate is rather low). And I haven't even mentioned the other areas. Here's a list of all the provinces that have been affected.

Samar, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Biliran, Masbate, Sorsogon, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Surigao del Norte, Dinagat Islands, Cebu, Bohol, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Marinduque, Romblon, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan

That is a lot of provinces. Most, if not all, of the towns in these areas still have no electricity.

This thread is for, not only Filipinos, but for people from around the world to discuss about the storm. I'm really sorry if I became repetitive, I just had a lot to say. Stuff that I've been keeping inside for days now. If this thread deserves to be in another area, don't delete it yet. Give me time to copy and paste the post in another thread (maybe the thread in the TFM Discussion area, or the chat thread) because I really feel that people need to know this.

Don't just send your prayers. Please donate, because it has become hell in Leyte and Samar. Give them strength. Please.

I donated some money but holy shit this was devastating.

being in manila and watching the pagasa website i thought it would affect manila in some way other than just wind but my god the typhoon stayed in its little concentrated circle of doom like an eraser on ms paint moving over the philippines and i really do pity the buildings that were destroyed
the eye of the storm was so amazingly circular that im not sure whether i was supposed to find it horrible or beautiful

Honestly, I don't care much.
It'll just go by like the tsunami in japan.
I never cared anyway, but sincerely I hope that not many people die.

Grejfrutek a dit :

Honestly, I don't care much.
It'll just go by like the tsunami in japan.
I never cared anyway, but sincerely I hope that not many people die.

what

Jsilv a dit :

what

I dunno why, but I never seemed to care about bad things happening to people :I
but this sounds scary

Grejfrutek a dit :

Honestly, I don't care much.
It'll just go by like the tsunami in japan.
I never cared anyway, but sincerely I hope that not many people die.

10,000 and this is the mininum.
Max could be ranging upto ten times more. Don't go on here and say that you don't care, lots of people do. It's just ignorant to say things like this.

Satash a dit :

10,000 and this is the mininum.
Max could be ranging upto ten times more. Don't go on here and say that you don't care, lots of people do. It's just ignorant to say things like this.

I don't even know anymore, but I'm glad that we can actually help somehow. It'd be painful to know that we can't do anything.

Why do you state stuff like that even if you "don't even know anymore"? Puts a bad light on you.

Anyway, I sincerely hope for the safety of people over in the Philipines. Imagine finding out that a relative of yours died during the storm and many more missing, it's horrible just thinking about it but I do hope they find some sort of new start in life.

Grejfrutek a dit :

Honestly, I don't care much.
It'll just go by like the tsunami in japan.
I never cared anyway, but sincerely I hope that not many people die.

.

Ofc you don't mind, your relatives weren't in the area.

Look, have some respect, please. The tsunami hasn't just 'gone by'. It's just that the media moved on to something else. As far as I know, the area around Fukushima is still abandoned and will be abandoned for decades. And there's the ever-present possibility that they fail to contain Fukushima. Also, half a town was killed.

Just like it won't 'go by' here. 11 million were affected. Also, Eastern Visayas is a really poor region. They were already doing bad enough before the storm. Also, the storm passed over Bohol, an area that was hit by a strong earthquake a month ago. These areas will take years to recover.

Still not sure? There were still people living in FEMA trailer houses 5 years after Katrina. This was in USA, and they knew what to do. The Philippines? I don't think so.

Maraoone a dit :

.

Ofc you don't mind, your relatives weren't in the area.

Look, have some respect, please. The tsunami hasn't just 'gone by'. It's just that the media moved on to something else. As far as I know, the area around Fukushima is still abandoned and will be abandoned for decades. And there's the ever-present possibility that they fail to contain Fukushima. Also, half a town was killed.

Just like it won't 'go by' here. 11 million were affected. Also, Eastern Visayas is a really poor region. They were already doing bad enough before the storm. Also, the storm passed over Bohol, an area that was hit by a strong earthquake a month ago. These areas will take years to recover.

Still not sure? There were still people living in FEMA trailer houses 5 years after Katrina. This was in USA, and they knew what to do. The Philippines? I don't think so.

Yes, I don't have anyone there, but you don't have to tell me.
Please, just ignore me and move on, I offend people very easily.

I also hate how the government is trying to downplay this. I was watching a government-owned station, and their newscasters were talking about how the media tends to exagerrate stuff. Yes, you idiots, they do, but I don't think they're exaggerating the towns that have waited a week for food and are slowly starving to death. I don't think they're simply placing those corpses in the street.

Mr. Aquino, the death toll isn't 'just' 2,000. It's really going to be 10,000, whether you like it or not. I know your 'zero casualties' goal was too ambitious. I accept that. I understand that you're having trouble with this storm. Any world leader would feel the same. But whatever you do, DON'T downplay this, please.

@ Grej: I understand how you feel. I'm sorry I got ticked off, it's just affected me personally. I admit that I anticipate storms simply for the awesomeness. No, not awesome as in 'OOH THIS IS COOL'. I mean awesome as in 'awe'. That's where that word comes from: awe. When I went through Ike, I got into meteorology not because of the devastation, but because it was awesome to me. But this? It's awesome, but in the worst way possible.

Maraoone a dit :

@ Grej: I understand how you feel. I'm sorry I got ticked off, it's just affected me personally. I admit that I anticipate storms simply for the awesomeness. No, not awesome as in 'OOH THIS IS COOL'. I mean awesome as in 'awe'. That's where that word comes from: awe. When I went through Ike, I got into meteorology not because of the devastation, but because it was awesome to me. But this? It's awesome, but in the worst way possible.

No problem... It's just that I try to hold myself back from telling my opinion, because I often offend others just by saying 'I don't care'. But I can't and I always need to say something, and everyone just gets offended and 'omg you're so rude'. That's just basically showing that THEY are the rude ones, not me.

Grejfrutek a dit :

No problem... It's just that I try to hold myself back from telling my opinion, because I often offend others just by saying 'I don't care'. But I can't and I always need to say something, and everyone just gets offended and 'omg you're so rude'. That's just basically showing that THEY are the rude ones, not me.

Pardon? How is telling you that you're rude making them look rude? Uh, I don't understand. That's not how things work.

Satash a dit :

Pardon? How is telling you that you're rude making them look rude? Uh, I don't understand. That's not how things work.

I'm just saying what I think.
Let's leave this topic now, I don't want a fight. Sorry.

They're not rude. People are just bound to get insulted when you say you 'don't care' about a tragedy that's killed 10,000 people.

Just keep in mind that so many are suffering. The Philippines is always suffering. Between mudslides, earthquakes, typhoons, monsoons, and corruption, we have enough to deal with. Imagine if it happened to your area. If your relatives were in trouble. You wouldn't like it if I said I 'don't care'.

I often don't feel anything for a tragedy, I'll admit that. I'm not personally affected by every suicide bombing that happens. But I do keep those feelings to myself out of respect. So please, do the same.

PS: I'm not mad. I'm just trying to make you understand how I feel. I don't have any hard feelings against you, Grej, and I understand being frank and stuff. But sometimes, it has limits.

Grejfrutek a dit :

I'm just saying what I think.
Let's leave this topic now, I don't want a fight. Sorry.

Yeah.

Maraoone a dit :

They're not rude. People are just bound to get insulted when you say you 'don't care' about a tragedy that's killed 10,000 people.

Just keep in mind that so many are suffering. The Philippines is always suffering. Between mudslides, earthquakes, typhoons, monsoons, and corruption, we have enough to deal with. Imagine if it happened to your area. If your relatives were in trouble. You wouldn't like it if I said I 'don't care'.

I often don't feel anything for a tragedy, I'll admit that. I'm not personally affected by every suicide bombing that happens. But I do keep those feelings to myself out of respect. So please, do the same.

PS: I'm not mad. I'm just trying to make you understand how I feel.

Love ye.

I admit that I'm not the most caring person in this world but I do feel some emotions for hurt people or even the dead. However even though it's not to and extent like (Bobby) for example, I do care about these. I wish I could do more for the Phillippines who actually can't ever get a break for even freaking one year.

I added an image with all the provinces to illustrated all those areas I'm talking about.

Maraoone a dit :

I added an image with all the provinces to illustrated all those areas I'm talking about.

Simply beautiful.

Transformice donated a lot of money but that's not even enough for the amount of people who died. One life is priceless and precious enough.

i found this on my facebook