Death Toll in Philippines Expected to Exceed 10,000: "We Don't Have Enough Body Bags"

Typhoon Haiyan's Fury

Update: Alerts have been issued for the Philippines as Tropical Depression Zoraida threatens to form into a tropical storm/typhoon and follow virtually the same track as Haiyan. This will bring more high winds and heavy rains to areas completely devastated by Haiyan, making an already desperate situation even more desperate:


Update II: There are fears that the initial estimate of 10,000 people killed by the horrific Typhoon Haiyan is far too low in the face of this monumental cataclysm. Rescue workers have described the once vibrant Tacloban City as a "corpse-choked wasteland", with rescuers scrambling for body bags and places to bury the dead. Survivors continue to patrol the streets in shell-shocked dismay and silence, searching for surviving family members, mementos as well as food, shelter and fresh water. No city or town in Haiyan's devilish path remain standing. Many communities up the coast have been left virtually inaccessible by the overwhelming debris field, where thousands more people are certainly dead or dying. Conservative damage estimates from the storm are from between $8-15 Billion US, making this one of the most expensive disasters...this year.  The human cost of this disaster is beyond measure.

There are terrifying stories coming out of the Philippines this weekend after one of the most powerful storms ever recorded, Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), smashed into the Southeast Asia island nation as a post-Category Five super typhoon on Friday.

Packing sustained winds in excess of 200mph, the storm lay to waste entire cities in the Eastern Samar region of the country. While official estimates on a death toll are not clear at this time, the situation in the Philippines is clearly very grim. Local officials and law enforcement in the region are calling out for global support in the rescue and clean-up efforts, begging for emergency supplies from the international community as well as body bags to contain dead bodies being recovered. In some more remote areas, officials are resorting to burying dead bodies, many unidentified,  in mass graves out of fear of creating a disease epidemic.

Early estimates fear that at least 10,000 people are dead and that many others will perish due to a lack of clean, potable water, fresh food and medicine, especially in more remote regions where towns are completely inaccessible due to debris-clogged roadways. Early reports indicate that a large portion of the country's infrastructure is completely destroyed and could take years if not decades to repair.

The city of Tacloban, which has a population of over 200,000, appears to be completely devastated by the incredible force of the storm, which created a deadly tidal storm surge that swept into the city and damaged or destroyed nearly every building in the entire city. The death toll in Tacloban alone is feared to be in the thousands. A correspondent for the BBC says that thousands of people have sought temporary shelter at the local airport in Tacloban City, which sustained massive damage from Haiyan, many desperate to get flights out of the city, although only emergency aid flights are being allowed to land and leave at this time. Aerial views from the region show miles and miles of city left in complete devastation as far as the eye can see. Thousands of survivors are now roaming the debris-ridden streets in shock, in search of shelter and food. ""People are walking like zombies looking for food," said Jenny Chu, a medical student in Leyte. "It's like a [horror] movie."

The ferocious storm of the century comes only weeks after a series of less powerful storms swept across the nation as well as an intense earthquake which rattled parts of the Philippines and toppled buildings and frayed nerves, leaving more than 300 people dead. 

The storm is expected to make landfall again in Vietnam early on Monday as a far less powerful storm. Over 600,000 people in Vietnam have been evacuated as a precaution from the still dangerous typhoon. New satellite imagery shows a storm currently developing over the same region that spawned Haiyan, with fears a second storm could follow close on its deadly heels.

Update: According to Weather Underground, Typhoon Haiyan is now officially the strongest storm on record, besting the old record set by Hurricane Camille, which devastated the Gulf Coast of the US in 1969:

Graph courtesy of Weather Underground

Philippines in "State of Calamity" After Super Typhoon Bopha Brings Devastation

 Second Update: Although downgraded to a tropical storm, Bopha continues to pack a punch as it brings heavy winds and rains to the northern part of the Philippines, which was relatively unaffected by the typhoon during its first hit on the southern islands only a few days ago. Tropical Storm alerts are in place and officials warn of low-lying flooding and potentially deadly landslides throughout the region. The official death count is 950, with hundreds more still missing or unaccounted for in the wake of the killer storm.

Emergency Bulletin: Weather forecast models predict the remnants of Typhoon Bopha will make a dramatic U-Turn, possibly striking the Philippines for the second time in only four days. Government officials are scrambling to prevent further tragedy should the storm hit again. Some models have the storm taking a turn out to the South China Sea, but either way, the storm will probably bring more heavy rains to a region already flooded and in ruins, with more strong winds and possible landslides and dangerous flooding.

President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines has declared an official "State of Calamity" across the Southeast Asian nation after Super Typhoon Bopha brought death, misery and destruction to the country.

The death count currently stands at 560 but officials have stated that number will continue to rise precipitously as rescue workers scramble to uncover survivors left in the rubble of buildings blown down by the intense winds or washed away by the record-breaking storm surge.

The president's declaration of a state of national calamity will now allow local governments to access funds for rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts in areas left in complete devastation from the nightmarish storm. One of the worst hit areas was the poor, remote Compostela Valley region on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, where thousands of shanty homes were swept away, many with entire families inside seeking refuge from the killer storm.

Illegal logging and mining in the region is being  blamed for the high number of fatalities in the southern Philippines where typhoon Bopha also created a very wide “horror-river” in New Bataan. Heavy rains from the typhoon swept down hills that have been stripped of trees and topsoil due to deforestation and illegal mining. The flood waters created an "inland tsunami" that washed across hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land, destroying everything in its path.

Meteorologists stated that the conditions surrounding Typhoon Bopha were highly unusual, with a confluence of weather events creating a "Super Typhoon", not unlike the strange sequence of events that brought about "Super Storm" Sandy that devastated the Eastern Seaboard of the United States in October. Weather experts warn the trend of highly destructive storms will more than likely increase dramatically, as the intensification of global climate change wreaks havoc on weather patterns, leading to more and more "super" storms. 

No More Jimmy Choo's: Imelda Marcos' Famous Shoe Collection in Ruins

She once possessed the world's most famous shoe collection, but the former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos would be broken hearted to see her shoes today...

It seems that years of neglect have left the 1200 pair plus collection of fashionable footwear in a severe state of disrepair. Boxes of items once belonging to Imelda and her deceased husband Ferdinand Marcos—the longtime dictator of the Asian nation who died in exile in Hawaii in 1989—have been ruined by water damage as well as termites and mildew.

Ironically, many of the items—including some of the First Lady's lavish ball gowns— had been transferred to the National Museum in the capital of Manila for safekeeping two years ago after high levels of humidity and dangerous mold threatened the collection where they were once stored at the National Palace, where the Marcos' resided during their long tenure.

The collection of shoes once boasted more than 3000 pairs and were the object of great media attention after the Marcos' were ousted following a military coup d'état in 1986. The shoe collection was widely seen as an example of  flamboyant excess and political corruption exhibited by the couple, who had been in power since 1965. 

Imelda Marcos, who was dubbed "The Iron Butterfly" by the press, is now 83-years-old and returned to her homeland in 1991 after five years of exile. She is currently a member of the country's House of Representatives. 

Dangerous Super Typhoon Sanba Eyes Japan and South Korea

A large and highly dangerous typhoon has rapidly gained strength in the western Pacific, meteorologists are warning. Super typhoon Sanba, currently positioned 690 miles south of Japan, has peak winds of 155 mph—the equivalent of a strong Category 4 hurricane—and  on the cusp of developing into a dangerous Category 5 storm, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane strength scale.

At present, the massive storm is headed due north which would take it on a path very close to the Japanese island of Okinawa on late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning local time. The storm is expected to continue its track due north on a path toward the southern tip of South Korea on Monday.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center has issued warnings for a large area alerting residents of the destructive potential of Sanba. Forecasters say conditions in the region are favorable for an intensification of the storm over the next 24 to 36 hours.

Residents of Okinawa, Japan, have already dealt with two serious typhoons this season, Bolaven and Haikui. Weather experts fear that this storm could be far more dangerous and devastating than the previous two storms combined. Heavy amounts of rainfall and massive flooding are the primary concerns in low-lying, coastal areas, with a high storm surge anticipated due to the storm's powerful winds which could top 175 mph.