Damage Reports and an Appeal
Compiled mainly from ANS and FMA news
services
The Salesian mission offices around the
globe have sprung into action in support of the operations to help the people
devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, which
ripped through the central Philippines on Friday, November 8. Salesian
Missions in New
Rochelle is one of the centers answering the
Congregation’s urgent appeal for aid to the victims.
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| (ANS) |
“Salesians were on the ground and able to
respond immediately,” said Fr. Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian
Missions, referring to the fact that Salesians have been working to help
vulnerable children and families in the Philippines since 1950. “But they need
additional help, and we are responding to that call.”
Haiyan carried maximum sustained winds of 195 mph. (Some media reported
that such winds were recorded at sea, and the winds over land were appreciably
weaker.) According to the New York Times
(November 9), the unusual speed with which the hurricane passed through the
islands lessened the damage that it might otherwise have caused from wind and
rain. Nevertheless, news media report that the death toll as of November 14 is
almost 2,400; they also predict that it may climb to 10,000. About 620,000
people have been displaced, 2,000 are unaccounted for, and 10 million people
have been otherwise affected. About 4 million children have been deprived of
their families.
Reports from the
SDB Northern Province (FIN), based in Manila, indicate that the works there did
not suffer much damage. The same was true of the FMA works in the northern
islands.
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| from SDB Annuario 2013 |
The SDB and FMA communities on Cebu Island (see
adjacent map) suffered no major damage, since they are located south of the
worst of the typhoon’s winds and water. The FMAs’ Mary Help of Christians School at
Minglanilla along Cebu’s east coast sheltered 800 persons for two days, feeding
them with food supplies (photo below) that had been collected earlier for the relief of
earthquake victims on Bohol Island (stricken on October 15). The sisters and
volunteers took turns cooking noodles, rice, and canned goods. They also
provided for their basic necessities, listened to their stories, and consoled
them. There is heavy damage in the houses of children from the youth center and
the school. Electricity and communications were cut off in almost the entire
province and were partially restored after two days.
The East Asia regional meeting of ACSSA (Salesian History Association) had
just concluded, and the return flights of many of the participants were
cancelled. They were able to depart when the storm had passed.
Two SDB communities were in Haiyan’s direct
path, one in Borongan in East Samar Province, and the other in Dumnagas in
Iloilo Province on Panay Island. No communication is currently possible with
these two communities. The community in Borongan City, however, had reported
that the city was chosen as the command post for relief operations in Eastern
Samar Island. There are three Salesians working in that community.
At the FMAs’ St. Mary Mazzarello School in Negros Occidental Province,
trees were uprooted, electric poles fell down, and the roofs of the library
building were stripped away. Electricity was restored in the school after two
days, but a large part of the neighboring towns will need more than a week to
get their power back. Classes are still suspended. Several students lost their
houses while others suffered heavy damage.
At Mary Help of Christians School in Mindoro Oriental Province on
Mindoro Island, roofs of the boys’ dormitory were blown away, trees were
uprooted, and drainage was blocked, causing a knee-high flood. On Mindoro the
parents of two FMAs were admitted to the hospital.
The typhoon made its sixth and last landfall in the northern part of Palawan
Island, where the FMA community is at Puerto Princesa in the island’s center. There
hasn’t been any news from there (as of November 12).
One sister reported that her family sustained heavy property damage at
Coron on Busuanga Island in the Visayas archipelago, directly stricken by the
typhoon, but the family are unharmed.
As of November 8, from the news that the FMAs had received, the
families and relatives of the sisters are safe, except that they had not yet
gotten any news of families from Tacloban on Leyte Island, where 90% of the
buildings were flattened.
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| From the Web page of the FMAs |
The provincial communities in both Manila
and Cebu City (FIS) are functioning with normal communications. The SDB
communities of both FIN and FIS and the FMA Province (based in Manila) have
joined the national drive for relief efforts on behalf of the people who have
lost their homes, property, and even their loved ones in the typhoon and its
aftermath, which has included shortages of food and potable water, medical
supplies, sanitation, and shelter.
FIS suspended various activities to
concentrate on emergency relief operations. Students, teachers, and lay
collaborators in our institutes are involved in the collection, preparation,
and packing of relief goods that will be sent to the various islands affected
by the typhoon.
The 266 SDBS and the FMAs operating in the
country are currently all engaged in coordinating aid to the population and
providing first aid to the needy. The Salesian houses in Cebu were chosen as
the Official Help Center, in cooperation with the National Crisis Management
Unit. 25,000 emergency kits have already been distributed from there.
Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas, Salesian
bishop of Maasin, Leyte, writes: “By God’s mercy and loving care, my diocese
had been spared from great destruction. A parish church has been damaged at the
roof. We have mobilized our faithful for help for our neighboring dioceses. We
have no electricity till now and for the coming weeks. Fuel is in limited
supply. Food is still available in the local market. For now, we try to gather
from our faithful as much help as we can to extend to the neighbors in dire
need.”
The FMAs reported on
November 13 from Thai Binh, Vietnam, on Haiyan’s progress into Vietnam and
southern China:
The passage of Typhoon
Haiyan leaves us no pause. After provoking thousands of deaths in the
Philippines, on November 11 at about 4:00 a.m., the typhoon reached landfall in
Vietnam, where it weakened and then proceeded toward southern China. The
province of Quang Ninh was the hardest hit. According to the first estimates
made by the civil protection of the Asian nation, it left at least 14 dead, 4
dispersed, and about 80 wounded. The consequence was a huge flood that provoked
a lot of damage to homes (more than 2,000) and ships (about 90). The typhoon
also passed through the province of Thai Binh, where our community of Trai Gao
is situated, although it was weaker by then. The FMAs and the girls are safe.
The people with their experience immediately helped the sisters to safeguard
the house. Due to this, there was only one roof tile blown away. Many trees
were knocked down by the strong wind, and some roofs of the houses in Thai Binh
were blown away, but no one was hurt. The Vietnamese people set up a “refuge”
to weather the storm. Many persons left their homes to take refuge there. Even
if their homes were lost, at least their lives were safe. Let us strengthen our
solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Vietnam and in the Philippines
while we entrust ourselves to the prayers and the support of everyone.
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| From the Web page of the FMAs |
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