Fortnight in the Philippines

Typhoon Haiyan was one of the largest typhoons ever recorded, and the largest typhoon to hit land. The Philippines suffered catastrophic damage from Typhoon Haiyan at the end of the rainy season in 2013. Over 11 million people in the Philippines were adversely affected by the typhoon. The final death toll was over six thousand people, with over four times as many injured. Almost two thousand people went missing. The typhoon destroyed over two million homes, businesses, schools, hospitals, churches, and community centres.

The world watched and responded as the typhoon tore through the Philippines. Relief organisations immediately sent in much needed supplies and teams of volunteers. They joined with local residents to search for missing survivors and guide people to evacuation centres.

Within a week of the typhoon international humanitarian aid poured into the Philippines. Countries as close as China, Australia, Japan, and as far away as Canada and Britain sent medical personnel and search and rescue teams. Israel and Australia set up field hospitals to treat victims of the storm and local residents requiring medical assistance, and the United States and China sent hospital vessels.

This is the personal account of one of the search and rescue teams that operated in the middle of the Visayas region of the Philippines in the weeks following Typhoon Haiyan.