Breaking News: Widespread damage in the Philippines

Courtesy of Politically Incorrect  Newz (ABC News)

Many Filipino students from elementary to tertiary levels have been affected so much because of Super Typhoon Yolanda. According to ITV, the president of the Philippines has said he believes the much-publicized figure of 10,000 deaths from the typhoon may be too high. President Benigno Aquino III told CNN his government was working on an estimate of 2,000-2,500 deaths. The extent of the damage wrought by super typhoon Haiyan, on the Philippines, remains unclear. Authorities are bracing themselves for widespread damage and many deaths.

Church partners in the Philippines respond ecumenically to Super Typhoon Haiyan. The Episcopal Church in the Philippines (ECP) is organizing its network of community and farmers’ groups in the northern part of the country to produce food for Super Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts in the hard-hit central region around Tacloban and Samar.

The Church’s relief activities are part of Operation Paglingap, an initiative of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, of which ECP is a member.  ECP staff emphasize that although the Church is actively participating in emergency relief, its most significant efforts will be in the short- and long-term recovery phases, after first-response organizations have finished their work.

According to Radio New Zealand News, millions of people have fled to safer ground or are taking refuge in shelters. Authorities have warned that more than 12 million people are at risk from Typhoon Haiyan.

Communications are down in some of the areas that were worst hit by the category 5 storm early on Friday morning.

There is particular concern about the city of Guiuan, with a population of 47,000, which was the first in line when Haiyan made landfall, the ABC reports.

The typhoon has since been tracking east to west across the central Philippines, causing widespread damage.

Sustained winds of up to 315km/h have brought down powerlines and trees. Many buildings have lost their roofs and some houses have been destroyed.

The Washington Post reported that one of the most powerful typhoons ever to make landfall crashed into the central Philippines on Friday, causing widespread damage and some loss of life, but the colossal storm’s speed may have spared the island nation an even worse fate.

Typhoon Haiyan’s heavy winds and huge storm surge killed a lot of  people, according to unofficial reports monitored by the Philippine Embassy in Washington, said Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr. The Filipino government has confirmed  deaths, he said. Damage was widespread but impossible to estimate with communication cut off to islands such as Samar, Leyte, Cebu and Panay in the path of the huge storm, but search and rescue efforts had begun, Cuisia said.

SunStar reported that official death toll from Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) that ravaged Central Philippines last week jumped to almost 4,000, based on the latest report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

NDRRMC Executive Director Eduardo del Rosario said that based on the disaster bureau's 6 p.m. update on Monday, the death toll has risen to 3,976. Eastern Visayas reported 3,725 deaths. Around 1,602 are still missing and 18,175 were reported injured.

The total cost of damage in Yolanda-hit regions have reached P10,384,690,061 with the agriculture sector suffering the largest lost at P9,089,181,461.00.

Philippines News.Net reported that EU mobilizes P600M for Yolanda victims. 'Yolanda' flattens Guiuan, Samar. Almost all structures in Guiuan, Eastern Samar were either damaged or flattened by super typhoon Yolanda on November 8 as seen in the aerial photo taken from a PAF helicopter on Sunday, November 10. Yolanda made its first landfall in Guiuan.

The European Union on Monday said it has mobilized P600 million in humanitarian assistance to the Philippines for the areas ravaged by Typhoon Yolanda. EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said he convened an emergency meeting with EU ambassadors in Manila to discuss the extent of the devastation.