Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines Friday, and details continue to emerge about the storm’s size and how much relief is needed.
According to NBC World News, “Typhoon Haiyan ‘affected’ a total of 9.5 million people across the Philippines — and displaced at least 600,000 — when it slammed into the country on Friday, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.”
Typhoon Haiyan could be the strongest storm on record. Although storms that powerful — in the Category 4 and Category 5 range — are common in the eastern Pacific this time of year, according to NPR, and it’s rare they reach their peak strength on land.
“As it approached one large island in the Philippines, the storm pushed up into a broad bay. That created a 13-foot storm surge that caused widespread devastation at the head of that bay, in the city of Tacloban,” NPR reporter Richard Harris wrote. “Mountains also wring rainwater out of storms like these. And then there’s the wind. ‘So we had a triple whammy, of surge, very high winds and strong rainfall,’ (climate scientist Kerry) Emanuel says.”
According to CBS New York, “Large areas along the coast had been transformed into twisted piles of debris, blocking roads and trapping decomposing bodies underneath. Ships were tossed inland, cars and trucks swept out to sea and bridges and ports washed away.”
Photos and reports from the Philippines have revealed the harrowing stories of those killed by the typhoon and the thousands of survivors who lost their homes, possessions, and families and friends. Those left in the aftermath are in desperate need of clean water, food, shelter and medical attention.
Though the tragedy is countries away, members of the UF community can — and should — help.
You can donate money to the Philippine Red Cross directly at redcross.org.ph/donate.
According to CBS, “UNICEF is taking donations to help provide children with shelter, clean water, nutrition and vaccines.” You can help UNICEF at unicef.org/support.
“World Food Programme, a United Nations organization, said it will send more than 40 tons of high energy biscuits and work with the Filipino government to help with logistics and emergency communications systems,” CBS also reported. Donate at wfpusa.org or by texting “AID” to 27722 to instantly donate $10. Other organizations providing aid to people in the Philippines include the International Rescue Committee, Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, Habitat for Humanity, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and many more.
Any donation counts. We leave you with some lines from William Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice”:
“How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.”
A version of this editorial ran on page 6 on 11/12/2013 under the headline "How you can help the devastated Philippines"
