God Bless the P.I.

nooshinjohn

So far more than 1200 dead and screes more missing from what is believed to e the largest typhoon ever recorded. They are in my prayers...

tonyb

My niece is in the middle of it. Out there doing charity work with the locals. They started moving inland days before it hit when they first were notified. Since everything is down, no way to contact her either. It's been 2 days so far with no word, we hope she's ok.

ThirdWorldGuy

Satellite phones can be very useful in situations like these. Although they can be expensive.

nooshinjohn

The Philippine government believes more than 10 THOUSAND souls could have been lost... pray for them in the days to come, and donate if you can. They will need a bunch of both to recover...

drumminman

It's being reported as the most powerful storm ever to make landfall - anywhere. Sustained winds of 200 mph. Tonyb hope your niece is OK.

US forces on the way to help. So sorry for those poor people.

treitz3

I just heard from a friend of mine who was in Manila when this hit. They were at an audio show with Micheal Fremer and some other hard core audiophiles when the storm made landfall. It wasn't until about an hour ago that they were allowed to leave the hotel and it was reported that even if they wanted to pay for it, the hotel would not provide any WI-FI access. It wasn't until today that they found out the true extent of the damage to their country. They are heartbroken and still haven't found out about some family members.

Tom

treitz3

tonyb

Nice pics Tom. The sheer size of that thing is massive. Also, the Philippines has a lot of areas below sea level. Like a giant New Orleans...being hit by a giant Katrina 4 times the size.

Still no word on my niece, but communications are down all over and obviously only emergency communications will be up asap. With that kind of wind speed, I would imagine a lot of people died from being hit by something. I just hope my niece had enough sense to find higher ground and not stick her head out to see it all.

Tornado Red

Yes, great pictures Tom. Utter devastation, hard to describe it otherwise. Something eerie, when you look at the far shot of Earth, the typhoon looks like a spiral galaxy with a black hole in the center...

cnh

Unbelievable devastation. I do hope things settle. Unfortunately, I'm certain we will see more and more and more of this type of thing in the future. And, unfortunately, it most often hits the "poorer" areas that cannot afford the costs to rebound and rebuild?

cnh

Erik Tracy

Aside from prayers - the victims of the typhoon may need donations....plenty of worthy sites are in need of donations.

NotaSuv

Wife from Cebu we have(HAD?) 2 ocean homes there as well as one in Bolinao which was untouched...a lot of her family in the military there so we have been in touch throughout.....easily a death toll into the 10's of thousands......

schwarcw

A tragedy of unthinkable proportions. I will keep the people from the PI and their extended families in my thoughts and prayers.

engtaz

Prayers being said

treitz3

For those who would like to donate, the American Red Cross is well organized and currently on location.

Red Cross Typhoon Appeal:
https://www.redcross.org/donate/index.jsp?donateStep=2&itemId=prod4650031

Tom

treitz3

https://www.google.com/search?q=you-tube+Yolanda&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb

Here's a link to some local you tube videos. They are calling it Yolanda over there.

Tom