typhoon yolanda/haiyan aftermath

Sensitive but Unclassified
Document ID: SOR-001-14
Subject: Typhoon Yolanda Aftermath
Date: 12 November 2013
Distribution Limited: This document is limited to those personnel performing military,
intelligence, law enforcement, or security duties in support of Homeland Defense. This
document should not be released in whole or part to the general public.
"Due to OPSEC concerns, customers are strongly advised to comply with their own command
policies before attempting to access any of the foreign websites cited in this report."
TYPHOON YOLANDA/HAIYAN AFTERMATH
Sensitive but Unclassified
UNCLASSIFIED
CHINA
~Natural Disaster~
Typhoon Haiyan has left at least five
people dead in China, the State Flood
Control and Drought Relief Headquarters
said on Monday. The victims included four
people in the southern island province of
Hainan and one in south China's Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region, said the
headquarters. The National Meteorological
Center said Haiyan is moving
northeastward and is expected to weaken
on Monday evening or on Tuesday
morning.
Xinhua (11/11/2013)
PHILIPPINES
~Natural Disaster~
An aerial view on
Monday of the
devastation of
super typhoon
Yolanda as it
battered a town in
Samar province.
Dazed survivors
begged for help
and scavenged for
food, water and
medicine,
threatening to
overwhelm
military and rescue
resources.
ABS-CBN
(11/11/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
Relief teams appeared overwhelmed in
their efforts to help those whose homes
and livelihoods were destroyed by
Yolanda, which sent tsunami-like
waves and merciless winds rampaging
across large swathes of the archipelago
Friday. A long snake-like queue
formed in Tacloban's flattened airport
as tired and hungry survivors, some
who had trudged through mud and
debris for several kilometers, sought
the basic essentials for survival. "We
want water and medicines for the
injured. So if you can organize it,
please, for us, don't let anybody come
here who will just watch us and see us
suffer, because we don't want that,"
Joan Lumbre Wilson told AFP, adding that authorities were struggling to cope with the sheer
numbers seeking help.
GMA (11/11/2013)
“Tacloban is totally destroyed,” public school teacher Andrew Pomeda said of the damage
inflicted on his city by super typhoon “Yolanda.” Like much of the Vises, Leyte remained cut off
from communications, leaving government workers carrying relief struggling to reach coastal
villages, where the death toll remained unknown. “People are walking like zombies looking for
food,” said Jenny Chu, a medical student in Leyte. “It’s like a movie.”
Inquirer (11/11/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
Citing the need to rapidly
respond to the urgent needs
of millions of people
affected by super typhoon
Yolanda, President Aquino
on Monday placed the
country under a state of
national calamity. This, he
explained in a simulcast
address on national
television, would allow
government to quickly
mobilize public funds for
disaster relief and
rehabilitation, impose a
freeze on prices of basic
goods in badly-hit areas in the nine regions that Yolanda barreled through, and give victims nointerest loans from government financing institutions.
Interaksyon (11/11/2013)
The death toll from super typhoon Yolanda
(international name Haiyan), which decimated
entire towns in the Visayas, could soar well
over 10,000, authorities warned Sunday,
making it the country’s worst recorded natural
disaster. The horrifying estimates came as
rescue workers appeared overwhelmed in their
efforts to help countless survivors of Yolanda,
which sent tsunami-like waves and merciless
winds rampaging across a huge chunk of the
archipelago on Friday. On Saturday, Mr.
Aquino said the government was prepared to
use P23 billion from various agencies and his
discretionary fund for relief and rebuilding
efforts in the typhoon-ravaged towns and
provinces.
Manila Standard Today (11/11/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
~Humanitarian Activities~
US military planes on Monday joined a frantic
effort to rescue the famished survivors of a
monster typhoon that may have killed 10,000
people in the Philippines, even as local security
forces struggled to contain looting. Three days
after Super Typhoon Yolanda flattened entire
towns across the central Philippines and left
bodies scattered across wastelands, desperation
was building with the devastated communities
devoid of food, water and medicines. The
Pentagon said it was sending military personnel
and equipment while Australia pledged A$10
million in aid and a team of doctors to help in
the relief operations. The UN children’s fund
UNICEF said a cargo plane carrying 60 tons of
aid, including shelters and medicine, would
arrive in the Philippines on Tuesday.
Manila Standard (11/12/2013)
Soldiers escort a truck loaded with relief
supplies in typhoon-devastated Tacloban
City on Monday, November 11.
Additional soldiers and policemen were
deployed to many typhoon-affected areas
in Samar, Leyte, Iloilo, and Cebu
following widespread reports of looting.
GMA (11/12/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
“Even if we get to land it here how do
you actually tell the people that it’s here?
Because you don’t have TV, you don’t
have radio, you don’t have newspapers
to be able to disseminate the
information hence the anxiety persists.
So that is a new challenge for us,” Mr.
Aquino said._ “The national
government is really having a hard time
penetrating the locality. We do not
know any barangay captain. We do not
even know the names of those towns,
much more their location, much more
where those people are,” Cabinet
Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said.
Manila Standard Today (11/12/2013)
Residents rush to a military
helicopter to get food packs during
relief distribution efforts in typhoondevastated Iloilo on Monday,
November 11. Survivors of super
typhoon Yolanda in the Central
Visayas begged for help and
scavenged for food, water, and
medicine as conditions deteriorated.
GMA (11/12/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
Foreign governments and agencies have
announced a major relief effort to help
victims of the Philippine typhoon.
Some of the pledges made: UN
humanitarian chief Valerie Amos has
released $25 million from the UN’s
emergency relief fund; United
Kingdom is deploying a Royal Navy
warship and donating a total of 10
million pounds’ (roughly $16 million)
worth of humanitarian assistance;
Australia announced assistance of 10
million Australian dollars ($9.4
million); US Secretary of State John
Kerry said the US government is
organizing emergency shipments of critically needed material; United Nations World Food
Program said it has allocated $2 million for the disaster response; Unicef said its staff in the
Philippines is being repositioned to help in relief efforts and 66 tons of emergency supplies are
being sent from Copenhagen; Japan will fly a 25-member relief team of mostly medical staff;
Taiwan said it will send $200,000 in aid to help with relief efforts; World Vision said it is putting
together resources to assist 1.2 million people, including food, hygiene kits, emergency shelter
and protection; Doctors Without Borders said it has 15 members in Cebu city and will send an
additional 50 people; and many more assisting in relief efforts.
Global Nation (11/12/2013)
Agriculture Secretary
Proceso Alcala said
Tuesday that the
government has enough
supply of rice for all
victims of typhoon
Yolanda. In an interview
with David Oro and Nina
Corpuz on DZMM,
Alcala said even before
the typhoon hit the
country, the government
prepositioned sacks of
rice in the affected areas. The secretary also said most of the rice supplies are intact, except for a
warehouse in Calbayog, which was partially damaged. However, the secretary appealed for
patience and discipline from the victims, especially in Tacloban. He also said a warehouse
located around two kilometers away from Tacloban City was ransacked. Around 33,000 sacks of
rice were taken by looters. In order to proceed with the distribution of rice in Tacloban, the
agriculture department has asked the help of the military.
ABS-CBN (11/11/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
The Commission on Elections on
Monday said it will release 700
gensets and 80,000 portable batteries
to the National Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management to address
the lack of electricity in areas affected
by super typhoon "Yolanda." Comelec
Chairman Sixto Brillantes (inset) said
the gensets were used to provide
backup power for the precinct count
optical scam (PCOS) machines during
the May 2013 elections. He said the
generators could be used to provide
power for hospitals and local
command centers. "We are not using
them right now since we don't have elections until 2016. It would be good to give it to them. The
gensets we can lend it to them," he said. He said Comelec has already informed the Office of the
President that the gensets are ready for pickup at the Comelec warehouse.
ABS-CBN (11/11/2013)
Rescuers faced blocked roads and damaged
airports yesterday as they raced to deliver
desperately needed tents, food and medicines
to the typhoon-devastated eastern Philippines
where thousands are believed dead. Very
little assistance had reached the city, residents
reported. Some took food, water and
consumer goods from abandoned shops,
malls and homes. “This area has been totally
ravaged’’, said Sebastien Sujobert, head of
the International Committee of the Red Cross
in Tacloban. “Many lives were lost, a huge
number of people are missing, and basic
services such as drinking water and electricity
have been cut off,’’ he said. He said both the Philippine Red Cross and the ICRC offices in
Tacloban had been damaged, forcing staff to relocate temporarily. “Reaching the worst affected
areas is very difficult, with limited access due to the damage caused by the typhoon to
infrastructure and communications,’’ said UNICEF Philippines Representative Tomoo Hozumi.
Tempo (11/12/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
The Negrense Volunteers for Change as of 9 last
night had donations for 101,310 Mingo meals to be
delivered to super typhoon Yolanda-hit areas. They
have partner volunteers who will distribute them in
Leyte, Samar, Northern Negros Occidental,
Northern Cebu, Panay and Bohol, NVC president
Millie Kilayko said. They will also have a Mingo
Mission to Cadiz on Tuesday, she said. “Mingo is
perfect for evacuation centers because it has rice
which every Filipino stomach is accustomed to,
Mingo and malunggay. It is instant, needs no
cooking and can be hydrated with water at room
temperature,” she said. It is also cheap at P4 each,
and helps boost the immune systems of toddlers and children in the evacuation centers, she
added.
Visayan Daily (11/11/2013)
New Zealand and Australia on
Sunday donated an immediate
US$490,000 towards relief
efforts in the typhoon-ravaged
Philippines and said additional
support could follow.
Wellington chipped in
US$124,000 and Canberra
gave US$366,000. New
Zealand Foreign Minister
Murray McCully said their aid
had gone to the Red Cross to
help the organization maintain
emergency supplies and carry
out impact assessments
following the devastation of
super typhoon Haiyan.
Channel News Asia (11/10/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
Aid groups have welcomed a $10
million aid pledge by the
Australian government to help the
Philippines, but warn much more
will be needed for a disaster of the
scale of typhoon Haiyan. Foreign
Minister Julie Bishop announced
the funding on Monday. She
described the destruction in the
country as a ''disaster on a massive
scale'' as she announced the aid
package, joining the US, Britain
and New Zealand among international donors. ''The loss of life, the damage to property and
homes has been absolutely devastating,'' she said. About $4 million will go to the United Nations
and another $3 million through non-government organizations. A further $1 million will go
towards the deployment of an Australian medical team, which will fly out of Darwin on
Wednesday on an Australian Defense Force Boeing C-17. Another $1 million will be used for
food and other essential items, such as tarpaulins, water containers and mosquito nets, and $1
million will go to the Red Cross.
Sydney Morning Herald (11/12/2013)
Canada’s Disaster
Assistance Response Team,
known as DART, is made
up of Canadian Forces
personnel who are trained to
respond quickly to
humanitarian emergencies
abroad. Canada sent an
advance team of eight to the
Philippines on Sunday to
assess immediate needs and
determine Canada can do.
The DART team departed
CFB Trenton on Monday
evening, heading to Hawaii
to await recommendations
on where to deploy. The
plane carried more than 40 staff, communications equipment, and three vehicles, including an
ambulance, a mobile command post and a forklift. Prime Minister Stephen Harper decided to
send DART even before an official request was received from the Philippines.
Globe and Mail (11/11/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
The European Union (EU) has
committed P600 million in
humanitarian aid to those affected
by the onslaught of typhoon
'Yolanda'. In a statement, the
Delegation of the EU to the
Philippines said visiting EU
Development Commissioner Andris
Piebalgs today convened an
emergency meeting of European
ambassadors in the country, where
they were briefed by the EU
Humanitarian Office (ECHO) on the
extent of damage brought by “Yolanda” to the Visayas. “EU member-states’ ambassadors have
announced that cargo planes from their countries carrying tons of relief supplies, rescue teams
and a field hospital have either landed or are on the way to the Philippines,” it added. Also,
Brussels yesterday mobilized the EU’s civil protection mechanism to coordinate their assistance
to the typhoon victims.
Interaksyon (11/11/2013)
The Vatican on Monday announced it is
donating $150,000 (112,000 euro) in
emergency aid to the Philippines after
Typhoon Yolanda (International codename
Haiyan) devastated entire communities and
left more than 10,000 people feared dead.
The aid "will be distributed through the
local Church in the areas worst hit by the
tragedy" and will be "used to support aid
operations for displaced people," the
Vatican added.
Rappler (11/11/2013)
The Japanese government has dispatched an
emergency relief team to the typhoon-devastated
Philippines. The 25-member group comprised
mainly of doctors and nurses with disaster
experience left Narita Airport on Monday. Foreign
Ministry and Japan International Cooperation
Agency officials are also part of the team.
___Upon landing in Manila Monday night, the
team will gather information and decide where to
offer its assistance. The relief workers are
scheduled to remain in the Philippines until
November 24th.
NHK (11/11/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
Japan is arranging to send S elf-Defense
Forces personnel to typhoon-ravaged
Philippines for medical and other aid in the
event that it receives a request from the
Philippines government. Chief Cabinet
Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters on
Monday the arrangements are taking place
in view of the enormous damage inflicted
by Typhoon Haiyan.
NHK (11/11/2013)
Two C-130 military cargo
planes will depart later
Tuesday to deliver supplies to
the Philippines and provide
relief to areas devastated by
Super Typhoon Haiyan, the
Ministry of National Defense
said in a statement. The plane
will take off from an air base
in Hsinchu at around noon for
Cebu City in the central
Philippines, the ministry said.
Focus Taiwan (11/12/2013)
The National Basketball Association and
NBA Players Association are donating
$250,000 to the US Fund for UNICEF for
emergency relief efforts in areas ravaged by
Super Typhoon Yolanda. Miami Heat coach
Erik Spoelstra, whose mother is from the
Philippines, will appear in a public service
announcement for the organization to help
raise funds for the relief efforts. The
basketball league is also planning a second
donation to another organization and is
encouraging others to help the efforts in the
Philippines, where it played an exhibition game last month between Houston and Indiana.
Phil Star (11/12/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
The United States Agency for
International Development (USAID)
will extend a $20-million (P871 million)
donation to victims of the super typhoon,
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said.
The aid includes emergency food and
critical relief supplies like shelter
materials and hygiene kits. A USAID
disaster assistance response team was
also prepositioned in the Visayas region
ahead of other international government
assessment teams, Shah said.
Phil Star (11/12/2013)
China's media offer
sympathy and support
for the Philippines
after Typhoon Haiyan,
but insist that
ongoing disputes
between the two
countries must not be
forgotten. In the wake
of the deadly
destruction caused by
the super typhoon,
China has pledged
$100,000 in cash and
"humanitarian
emergency relief assistance" to the Philippines. The Global Times insists that Beijing should
keep aid efforts separate from the long-running disagreements with Manila over islands in the
South China Sea. "Chinese society should be able to accommodate these different things at the
same time," the daily says.
BBC (12/12/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
~General~
The National Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management
Council (NDRRMC) on
Monday night has placed the
partial and official number of
casualties due to super
typhoon Yolanda at 1,774.
Search-and-rescue operations
are still ongoing and with this
the number of recovered dead
could still rise.
Interaksyon (11/12/2013)
Residents of Tacloban from all walks of life
line up to fetch water being provided by the
local water district on Monday. Tacloban
residents try to cope with whatever is
available after the storm surge destroyed
basic services in the city.
ABS-CBN (11/11/2013)
People carry sacks of supplies as
they walk amid the debris coming
from Tacloban City on Monday.
Authorities have yet to organize
relief mission four days after the
devastation wrought by typhoon
Yolanda in Tacloban City and
nearby towns.
ABS-CBN (11/11/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
Tropical depression "Zoraida" is set to
make a landfall in Davao region before
noon on Tuesday, state weather bureau
PAGASA said. PAGASA said as of 4 a.m.,
Zoraida was spotted 216 kilometers
southeast of Hinatuan, Surigao Del Sur or
192 kilometers east of Davao City. Zoraida
was packing maximum sustained winds of
55 kilometers per hour near the center, and
was moving northwest at 30 kilometer per
hour. PAGASA forecaster Gener Quitlong
said there is also a chance that Zoraida will
intensify into a storm before hitting land. He warned that the new weather disturbance may
trigger flooding in low-lying areas and landslides near mountain slopes.
ABS-CBN (11/12/2013)
~Looting~
The Philippine
National Police
yesterday said it would
fly in more policemen
to areas devastated by
Supertyphoon
“Yolanda” amid
reports of unbridled
looting of commercial
establishments by
desperate residents
searching for food and
water. In a news
briefing at Camp
Crame, PNP Director
General Alan Purisima
said 883 police
personnel had been
sent to Western and
Eastern Visayas to
guard against looters, some of them reportedly armed. In Tacloban City alone, he said 639
additional PNP personnel were deployed after television crews caught on camera typhoon
victims ransacking groceries, warehouses, stores, fast-food restaurants and even jewelry shops.
“We will flood Tacloban with policemen to restore law and order,” Purisima said.
Inquirer (11/12/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
Desperate residents have resorted to
stealing fuel from a gasoline station in
Tacloban City just three days after
super typhoon "Yolanda" brought
devastation to the city. Video footage
showed several residents siphoning
off the fuel from a local gas station
while others stood in line with plastic
containers. Some local officials at the
scene tried to dissuade the residents
but their plea fell on deaf ears. In
previous days, residents looted
groceries and other shops as they
scramble for dwindling food supplies.
Yesterday, a local businessman urged President Aquino to declare martial law in Tacloban due to
widespread lawlessness but Aquino said he will study the option.
ABS-CBN (11/11/2013)
Justice Secretary Leila De Lima
seems not keen on prosecuting
individuals behind the looting of
several establishments in
Tacloban City, Leyte following
the onslaught of super typhoon
"Yolanda." In a text message to
reporters, De Lima said that
liberality should be applied in the
application of laws in cases of
natural calamities and disasters,
and that what is more important
is for state security forces to
perform their mandate of
maintaining peace and order
during these times. "This is not
to justify stealing of any kind. The justifying circumstance stated in our laws is an
acknowledgement that the instinct of self-preservation takes priority in case of emergency," she
added.
ABS-CBN (11/11/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
Policemen guard the entrance
to a mall in Tacloban City,
Leyte, on Monday to keep
looters at bay three days after
super typhoon Yolanda hit
the city on November 8.
Dazed survivors have been
scavenging and begging for
help, overwhelming military
and rescue sources.
GMA (11/11/2013)
The Philippine government
said on Tuesday it had
deployed armored vehicles,
set up checkpoints and
imposed a curfew to help end
looting in a city devastated
by Super Typhoon Haiyan.
Survivors have reported
gangs stealing consumer
goods including televisions
and washing machines from
small businesses. Many
resorted to looting with a
charity saying that in one case, a man with a machete tried to rob aid workers who were
receiving a delivery of medicine. "The presence of policemen, military and government forces
will definitely improve things (but) it will not be overnight," Roxas said, confirming reports that
the Tacloban city government had imposed a curfew on residents of 10:00 pm (1400 GMT) to
6:00 am. "It is a tool that we are using to minimize the looting and break-ins. We know some
people cannot return home (during the curfew) because their homes were washed away but it is
more effective against roving gangs who are looking for targets of opportunity," he said.
Channel News Asia (11/12/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
TAIWAN
~Natural Disaster~
Two men lost their lives and one has
been reported missing in two separate
incidents at sea caused by high waves
on Taiwan's east coast from Super
Typhoon Haiyan on the weekend,
local officials said Monday. In one
incident, three men were washed into
the sea by rogue waves from the storm,
which capsized their recreational
fishing raft off Changbin port in
Taitung County, southeastern Taiwan,
Saturday evening, officials said.
Focus Taiwan (11/11/2013)
VIETNAM
~Natural Disaster~
By this evening, 14 people
died, 81 others were injured
and four fishermen went
missing before and after storm
Haiyan hit Quang Ninh
Province and Hai Phong City
this morning, the National
Committee for Search and
Rescue reported.
Tuoitre (11/11/2013)
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
Vietnam has
mobilized over
453,000 soldiers and
militiamen, and
thousands of means
of transport to cope
with typhoon Haiyan
that is forecast to hit
central region early
Sunday, the National
Committee for
Search and Rescue
reported on Friday.
The strong force and
over 5,000 transport
facilities including
12 planes, 356 ships,
2,388 motorboats,
and 2,680 automobiles have been mobilized from many provinces and cities, mainly in central
Vietnam, the committee said. The Defense Ministry has sent urgent messages to military units in
Central Vietnam asking them to be ready to assist local authorities and other relevant agencies in
coping with the coming typhoon that is considered the world’ strongest storm ever observed.
Tuoitre (11/09/2013)
Vietnam will send US$100,000 in emergency aid
to the Philippines the in wake of super typhoon
Haiyan, which killed around 10,000 people in the
country, Vietnam News Agency reported.
President Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung on Sunday sent condolences to
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III over the
massive loss of life and property Haiyan caused.
In their messages, the Vietnamese leaders
affirmed that Vietnam stands side by side with the
Philippine people at this difficult time. In addition
to the $100,000 in aid, Vietnam is also
considering other practical measures it may be able to provide the typhoon victims in the
Philippines.
Thanh Nien (11/11/2013)
This report is a special ASD advisory derived from foreign open source media in the AsiaPacific AOR. Information contained herein is intended to support USARPAC soldiers deployed
throughout the theater and to enhance situation awareness. POC is ASD Ops, DSN (315) 2634319.
UNCLASSIFIED