Cyclone death toll in Somalia's Puntland rises to 140

The death toll from a tropical cyclone that hit Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region at the weekend has risen to 140, and the final figure could be 300, the government said.

A state of emergency has been declared and the government appealed for international aid. It said it needed clean water, non-perishable foods, medicines, shelter materials and blankets.

"So far we have confirmed the storm killed 140 people," said Abdullahi Ahmed, Puntland's interior minister. "We are afraid the death toll may reach 300 because many people are still missing. Roads have been cut and the only access to those areas is by air."

Weather experts at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said the cyclone, which made landfall on Saturday, brought unusually heavy storms. Latest rainfall data shows the cyclone has subsided after flooding the towns of Eyl, Dangaroyo and the Puntland capital, Garowe, though heavy rains are still expected inland.

Somalia's president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, pledged to send $1m to the region. Puntland said in August it had cut ties with Mogadishu, accusing it of refusing to share power and foreign aid.

The cyclone's heavy torrential rains caused flash floods that led to the loss of about 100,000 livestock. Many fishing boats were swept into the Indian Ocean. The FAO said about 65% of Somalia's population depended on livestock.

"Knowing that livestock and fisheries are key livelihood activities in the affected regions, we anticipate the storm to heavily hurt coastal communities," said Rudi Van Aaken, the acting head of FAO in Somalia, pledging help for the survivors.

Puntland spans the north of Somalia and has largely escaped the worst of the country's upheaval over the last 20 years. Foreign powers advocating a loose federal political system for Somalia have held up Puntland as a possible model.

Wednesday 13 November 2013

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/13/puntland-cyclone-death-toll-somalia

China reports deaths amid Typhoon Haiyan

Seven people were killed and another four were missing as of 10 a.m. Tuesday as Typhoon Haiyan continued its progress through south China, according to official figures.

The National Disaster Reduction Commission announced that more than 3 million people in China's southern provinces of Hainan and Guangdong and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region had been affected by the typhoon.

Haiyan, the strongest typhoon this year, arrived in Guangxi on Monday morning after having wreaked havoc in the Philippines and Vietnam.

Five fatalities occurred in Hainan and two in Guangxi.The typhoon toppled more than 900 houses, damaged another 8,500 and destroyed 25,500 hectares of crops.

Wednesday 13 November 2013

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-11/12/c_132882295.htm

Foreign, local forensics experts joining NBI team in Tacloban

Foreign and local experts will be joining the forensics team of the National Bureau of Investigation that will be leaving for Tacloban City this week work to identify the bodies of victims in areas devastated by super typhoon “Yolanda.”

Wednesday afternoon, Dr. Wilfredo Tierra, head of the NBI’s medico-legal division, met with forensics experts from the International Red Cross.

The embassy of New Zealand and Interpol have also indicated that they will be joining the 15- to 20-member NBI disaster identification team.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Dr. Raquel Fortun and three other forensic Filipino forensic pathologists have also volunteered to assist with the identification of the bodies.

Reports from Tacloban and other badly hit areas indicate that many bodies remain under debris and even on the streets and many have begun to smell.

In some towns, officials said bodies found along highways had to be buried by the roadside to speed up the clearing of debris and allow the delivery of relief.

De Lima also explained that identifying the dead is important, “para ‘yung mga kaanak na gusto ng maayos-ayos na libing ay magawa ‘yon (so those who want to give them a decent burial can do so) … we have to account for each and everybody … living or dead, kailangan ma-account (they need to be accounted for).”

Five days after Yolanda struck, the experts acknowledged that the task would be difficult and their numbers were few.

They cited the work of identifying victims of the deadly Northern Mindanao flashfloods triggered by storm “Pablo” last year, which is still continuing.

The NBI team will try to work with dental records and, where possible, cadavers’ fingerprints.

However, when this is no longer feasible, they will have to turn to DNA tests, which cost at least P15,000-20,000 each.

A four-man NBI team is already in Tacloban undertaking preparatory work, including finding a place to work, ensuring transportation and determining which areas they will be to undertake an ocular inspection and determine the areas to visit.

The NBI said they would include in their work victims already buried in mass graves, which they will exhume as long as these are contained in individual cadaver bags.

Wednesday 13 November 2013

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/74731/foreign-local-forensics-experts-joining-nbi-team-in-tacloban

Typhoon Haiyan: Mass burials begin

Mass burials are beginning Wednesday in the typhoon-stricken city of Tacloban, with the mayor saying he is crossing his fingers and hoping no more than 1,000 bodies will eventually fill the freshly dug pit.

Alfred Romualdez said dozens of trucks will roam the city to pick up bodies over the coming days. Many bodies have already been placed at the roadside for retrieval, he said.

Mr. Romualdez said it may take another week to assess the number of lives lost in the city. In the meantime, asked about President Benigno Aquino III‘s statement Tuesday that the death toll in the Philippines from the typhoon would likely mount to 2,000 to 2,500–compared with the 10,000 figure cited by other officials—Mr. Romualdez said it was premature to make any estimates.

“To be very realistic, whoever comes up with a number is not realistic,” he said. Many communities, he notes, haven’t yet been reached to assess their losses.

Meanwhile, the number of fatalities is becoming more evident over time, he said, as the smell from the deceased buried beneath the debris grows. “Some [neighborhood] officials say there’s no dead, it’s OK,” he said. “After three days, they smell something in the rubble, and they know there’s something here.”

Even next to his own house, he said, while he and his family originally believed there were no corpses, as time passed and a stench arose, they found six floating nearby in the water.

Part of the reason Tacloban’s fatality count is so high, the mayor said, is because many people came seeking refuge. “You have to understand Tacloban is the regional center. Every time there’s bad weather or severe storms, people come here for shelter. And the irony is they came here for shelter and we were one of the hardest hit,” he said.

About 10% of bodies in Tacloban so far, he estimates, have been retrieved and disposed of by family members. The number of the missing, meanwhile, he says is in the “high hundreds,” but adds that such a figure may be an understatement, as some families were completely wiped out with no one left to report them gone.

Yesterday, he noted, one barangay—or neighborhood—retrieved 60 dead. Another is reporting 30 lives lost. There are 130 barangays in Tacloban, he said.

According to Philippine law, he said, bodies shouldn’t be buried without being properly processed—namely, that the government will do everything they can to identify, photograph and document them before placing them into the ground.

Mr. Romualdez said that diggers finished the mass grave Tuesday, and that bodies will begin to be laid to rest there Wednesday.

Standing outside City Hall on a morning that dawned sunny and blue, Mr. Romualdez heard reports from staffer Gloria Enriquez-Fabrigas, who said that she needed tarpaulin to help bury corpses two levels deep. She also said families would have the chance to have a prayer be read at the grave. “Catholic, whatever prayer, there’s a Muslim prayer, a Christian prayer—the family can decide,” he said.

Meanwhile Wednesday, some signs of normalcy were returning to the city’s streets, the mayor said, with limited public transport beginning to resume.

Wednesday 13 November 2013

http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2013/11/13/diary-of-a-disaster-mass-burials-begin/

Philippines typhoon: President lowers death toll estimate

Philippine President Benigno Aquino says the death toll from Typhoon Haiyan may be lower than first thought.

Speaking to CNN, he said the number of 10,000 killed was "too high" and the figure was more likely up to 2,500.

The UN says more than 11 million people are believed to have been affected and some 673,000 displaced.

The relief operation is being stepped up, but many are still without aid. On Wednesday, eight people died as a rice warehouse was looted, officials said.

The earlier figure of 10,000 feared killed came from a police officer and local official and may have arisen from the "emotional trauma" of being at the centre of the disaster, Mr Aquino said.

He said 29 municipalities had yet to be contacted to establish the number of victims there.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) has put the official death toll at 1,833, as of 06:00 local time (22:00 GMT) on Wednesday. The number of injured stands at 2,623 with 84 listed as missing. Angry residents

Despite the increased aid effort, many survivors still badly need food, water and shelter, aid officials say.

There has been criticism of relief efforts, as the damage to transport links and bad weather are hindering distribution of relief supplies.

However, Philippine Interior Minister Mar Roxas told the BBC that relief efforts were on track.

"Our first priorities were, number one, to establish law and order; number two, to bring food and water to the people; and, number three, to recover the cadaver bags," he said.

"[Now] law and order has been stabilised, the supply of food and water is beginning - I'm not saying that we're anywhere near it - [but it] is beginning to be stabilised... and now we are concentrating on recovery of cadavers as well as on the distribution of the food and the relief that is coming in."

But Philippine armed forces spokesman Ramon Zagala told the BBC teams were struggling to reach isolated places.

"The area is very vast and the number of helicopters, although we have a lot of helicopters at the moment, it's really a challenge for us to bring [aid] to all the places and [bring] the number of goods that are needed." 'Hopelessness and desperation'

Tacloban - a city of 220,000 on Leyte island - is particularly badly affected.

The BBC's Jonathan Head says the main road from the airport to the city is clogged with refugees and debris, with residents becoming angry at the lack of progress and increasing breakdown in security.

Bodies remain uncollected, local government has been wiped out and central government, which is meant to have taken over, is almost invisible, our correspondent adds.

Leyte congressman Martin Romualdez said there was a sense of "hopelessness and desperation" amongst many survivors.

"We are seeing a lot of relief goods, medicines, equipment coming in, but it's not reaching the people affected," he told the BBC.

"The destruction is so massive in scale and so extensive in our areas that we literally would have to rebuild from scratch," he added. "We just imagine it, our area, as a ground zero, as if a nuclear bomb had exploded above us."

On Tuesday the UN launched an appeal for $301m (£190m) to help survivors. It has already released $25m to meet immediate needs.

UK charities launch typhoon appeal

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs says 11.3 million people are in need of vital goods and services, because of factors such as lack of food, healthcare and access to education and livelihoods. Security fears

Aid agencies have warned that the security situation is worsening. There are reports of food warehouses and grocery shops being ransacked and people starting to fear for their safety.

Eight people died on Tuesday as survivors mobbed a government rice warehouse in Alangalang, Leyte, officials said.

"One wall of our warehouses collapsed and eight people were crushed and killed instantly," Rex Estoperez, spokesman for the National Food Authority, said.

The police and soldiers were unable to stop the looters, who took more than 100,000 sacks of rice, Mr Estoperez added.

John Cordell, from disaster relief charity ShelterBox, told the BBC: "I think [the reports of attacks on food convoys] are deterring a lot of aid agencies from getting in there."

On Tuesday, an aid convoy travelling to Tacloban was reported to have been attacked and two of the assailants shot dead by troops.

The Philippine air force has been flying transport planes in and out of Tacloban airport, carrying relief supplies and evacuating hundreds of residents.

The US is sending its aircraft carrier USS George Washington and other navy ships to help with the relief work. The carrier is expected to arrive within the next few days. The UK's Royal Navy destroyer HMS Daring is also making its way from Singapore.

US Marine Corps Brig Gen Paul Kennedy said his troops would install equipment at Tacloban airport, enabling planes to land at night.

"You are not just going to see marines and a few planes and some helicopters," he said. "You will see the entire Pacific Command respond to this crisis."

Other countries have also pledged millions of dollars in assistance.

'Like 2004 tsunami'

Typhoon Haiyan - named "Yolanda" by Philippine authorities - struck the coastal provinces of Leyte and Samar on Friday. It was one of the most powerful storms on record to make landfall.

It swept through six central Philippine islands before travelling through Vietnam and southern China.

Several people in both countries were killed, according to state media reports.

In the UK, the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) group of 14 charities launched its own appeal to help the typhoon victims on Tuesday.

DEC chairman Salah Saeed compared the destruction in the city of Tacloban to that seen after the devastating tsunami of 2004.

"There is currently no food, water or electricity. We can only imagine how much worse the situation will be for families living in towns and remote villages," he said.

Wednesday 13 November 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24920250