Thousands dead, countless injured by ‘world’s strongest tropical cyclone’
As many as 10,000 people are feared dead and hundreds of thousands have been left homeless and hungry after a powerful typhoon swept through the Philip-pines.
Typhoon Haiyan made landfall on 8 November on the southernmost tip of Samar Island before lacing through the islands of Leyte, Cebu and Panay in the centre of the country, destroying major cities and isolated villages alike with wind speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour.
Across Ireland, anxious Filipinos have been waiting for news of their family and friends, among them Regine Mae Caones, a nursing student at Trinity College Dublin.
Caones was relieved to learn her family were alive, but worried by how much of the country the relief effort had yet to reach. In her hometown of Jaro in Leyte, people are desperate, she said.
“What they are showing on the news is not even a quarter of the extent of what is happening.
“Everybody’s home is destroyed. They are so desperate for food. Sometimes [hungry people] are stopping anybody with a plastic bag and searching it, and if there is food there, they take it off you,” she said.
Caones also spoke of someone from her town “who needs dialysis three times a week, and we don’t know what is happening to her now.”
The Irish Government promised on Monday to give €1m of emergency funding for relief effort in the Philippines.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore noted the “strong bonds” between Ireland and the Philippines, mainly through missionaries and hospital workers.
“My thoughts are with the families of those who have perished, and indeed with those waiting to hear of news from their loved ones,” he said.
Dublin Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn also expressed his condolences to those affected by the disaster.
“In particular I would like to give my support to the Filipino Irish community who are living and working in Dublin and Ireland,” he said. “My thoughts are with them while they are grieving for or worried about loved ones back home.”
Meanwhile, the Philippines’ honorary consul in Ireland, Mark Condon, said that those wishing to help may donate through the Philippine Red Cross.
And Irish NGO association Dóchas also hosts a website at HowYouCanHelp.ie that outlines what kind of donations are required and which organisations to support in assisting those in need.
