Thousands are feared dead after one of the most powerful storms ever recorded, Typhoon Haiyan, made landfall over the weekend and began to play out what The New York Times have described rather lightheartedly as “a deadly form of hopscotch across the islands” of the Philippines.
President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared a national “state of calamity” following a weekend of unbelievable destruction, with Reuters reporting that an estimated 10,000 are feared dead in the city of Tacloban alone after a surge of sea water thought to be four metres high made its way through low-lying streets, exacerbated by winds of up to 313km/h. The Social Welfare and Development Office stated that the storm has affected an estimated 4.28 million people living 270 towns, cities and fishing villages spread across the thirty-six provinces of the central Philippines.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has pledged an initial $390,500 on behalf of the Federal Government in emergency aid to assist affected communities, including “pre-positioned emergency supplies… sleeping mats, blankets, mosquito nets, water containers and health and hygiene kits for families devastated by the typhoon”.
Though believed to have lessened in severity, a further 500,000 – 600,000 people have been evacuated in anticipation of the arrival of Haiyan in northern Vietnam, where the storm is expected to make landfall south of Hanoi later today at 11am AEDT.
Photos by Jeoffrey Maitem, Dondai Tawatao via Getty
