Typhoon Haiyan in Philippines

[Claire ex-ax]

Things are not improving.

Eight Filipinos were crushed to death as a huge crowd of typhoon Haiyan survivors stormed a rice warehouse in Alangalang town, 17 kilometers from the devastated city of Tacloban, an official said.
“One wall of our warehouses collapsed and eight people were crushed and killed instantly,'' on Tuesday, Rex Estoperez, spokesman for the National Food Authority, the government's rice trading agency said.
Five days after Haiyan ripped apart entire coastal communities, the situation in Tacloban was becoming ever more dire with essential supplies low and increasingly desperate survivors jostling at the airport.
"Everyone is panicking,'' Captain Emily Chang, a navy doctor, said
"They say there is no food, no water. They want to get of here,'' she added, saying doctors at the airport had run out of medicine, including antibiotics. We are examining everyone but there's little we can do until more medical supplies arrive.''--AFP

[ewankho]

After feeling left out of the party China now wants to send warships to the Philippines:

China should send warships to the Philippines as part of the typhoon disaster relief effort to counter US and Japanese influence, state-run media said on Friday.

Beijing and Manila are embroiled in a row over disputed islands, but if the Philippines rejected the warships proposal, that would only “underscore its narrow mind and will be of no loss to China”, the Global Times said in an editorial.

Because the relief effort is *all* about the China.

From : SCMP

[Claire ex-ax]

IKEA has donated US$2.7m. That's more than China.

[dengxi]

IKEA has donated US$2.7m. That's more than China.

Worth pointing out that China's upped its donation to 2M USD.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/1...n_4277092.html

I assume they didn't like all the headlines suggesting they don't understand soft power and that this event shows China's strategic limitations.

Many more companies have donated, more complete list here:

http://bclc.uschamber.com/site-page/...te-aid-tracker

[Claire ex-ax]

Worth pointing out that China's upped its donation to 2M USD.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/1...n_4277092.html

I assume they didn't like all the headlines suggesting they don't understand soft power and that this event shows China's strategic limitations.

Many more companies have donated, more complete list here:

http://bclc.uschamber.com/site-page/...te-aid-tracker

Worth pointing out it was upping begrudgingly. And it's still less than a company that sells cheap furniture.

[Watercooler]

Worth pointing out it was upping begrudgingly. And it's still less than a company that sells cheap furniture.

Talk about shooting themselves in the foot.

Anyway, like I predicted earlier on this thread, the news are reporting howls of anger and condemnation by the survivors at the slow to non-existent response by the Manila government to aid the victims there. I knew all along this disaster is going to be worse thanks to government incompetence, all you people criticizing me on that point can now eat humble pie .

http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2....ooper.cnn.html

[kimwy66]

Talk about shooting themselves in the foot.

Anyway, like I predicted earlier on this thread, the news are reporting howls of anger and condemnation by the survivors at the slow to non-existent response by the Manila government to aid the victims there. I knew all along this disaster is going to be worse thanks to government incompetence, all you people criticizing me on that point can now eat humble pie .

We bow to your superior knowledge of the bleeding obvious then WC if that makes you happy.

Of course a 3rd world country, which suffers 20 typhoons a year, with earthquakes on top, in the middle of a civil up rising, with poorly education people is not going to be the picture perfect disaster response poster.

That is why they need help, as much help as they can get. And it is why superior soap-boxing will only get you criticised, because we all know the problems and bashing them when they are suffering as they have done is just plain nasty.

As the Chinese rightly found out.

As for the cries of the victims not getting aid quickly enough, this is something that you will see in every disaster. People want someone to wave a magic wand and put it all right. Being hungry and thirsty makes people desperate.

It happened in the Christchurch earthquake too, in a country that had prepared for such a disaster and had money at hand to solve it. A lot of the problems will be down to simple logistics problems. You can't get there straight away, and bottlenecks for supplies to get in always happen.

And they are still complaining in christchurch as the rebuilding drags on - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/christchurch-earthquake/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502981&objectid=11143670
.

We do what we can to help, hopefully by choosing the right agencies to funnel that help through to the people that need it.

My daughter's school raised $80,000 HKD in one morning, with more still coming in. And we are off today to get the things to make disaster kit - http://www.crossroads.org.hk/philipp...-haiyan-relief .

[Watercooler]

We bow to your superior knowledge of the bleeding obvious then WC if that makes you happy.

Of course a 3rd world country, which suffers 20 typhoons a year, with earthquakes on top, in the middle of a civil up rising, with poorly education people is not going to be the picture perfect disaster response poster.

That is why they need help, as much help as they can get. And it is why superior soap-boxing will only get you criticised, because we all know the problems and bashing them when they are suffering as they have done is just plain nasty.

As the Chinese rightly found out.

As for the cries of the victims not getting aid quickly enough, this is something that you will see in every disaster. People want someone to wave a magic wand and put it all right. Being hungry and thirsty makes people desperate.

It happened in the Christchurch earthquake too, in a country that had prepared for such a disaster and had money at hand to solve it. A lot of the problems will be down to simple logistics problems. You can't get there straight away, and bottlenecks for supplies to get in always happen.

And they are still complaining in christchurch as the rebuilding drags on - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/christchurch-earthquake/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502981&objectid=11143670
.

We do what we can to help, hopefully by choosing the right agencies to funnel that help through to the people that need it.

My daughter's school raised $80,000 HKD in one morning, with more still coming in. And we are off today to get the things to make disaster kit - http://www.crossroads.org.hk/philipp...-haiyan-relief .

My apologies if I led you to misunderstood my point. Let me clarify. Christchurch is Christchurch and the Philippines are the the Philippines. Don't mix up the two. The scale and type of destruction is different. You cannot predict earthquakes but you can forecast typhoons. That allows you preparation.

Was I bashing the victims there? I was not. I didn't give a middle finger to them like the Chinese government was doing with that measly sum. I was slamming the Manila government (and the victims seem to agree with me on that point). So I simply: a) accurately predicted the government's incompetence and need for better planning and b) highlighted the dangers when the typhoon was coming.

My sympathy all along has been with the victims. I'm glad your daughter made a difference. Keep up the good work.

[usehername]

My apologies if I led you to misunderstood my point. Let me clarify. Christchurch is Christchurch and the Philippines are the the Philippines. Don't mix up the two. The scale and type of destruction is different. You cannot predict earthquakes but you can forecast typhoons. That allows you preparation.

They did prepare. They evacuated thousands.

Was I bashing the victims there? I was not. I didn't give a middle finger to them like the Chinese government was doing with that measly sum. I was slamming the Manila government (and the victims seem to agree with me on that point). So I simply: a) accurately predicted the government's incompetence and need for better planning and b) highlighted the dangers when the typhoon was coming.

What do you want? A prize? A certificate for correctly identifying that developing countries with limited recources and inadequate infrastructure are less able to respond quickly and efficiently to disasters than developed countries? A statue built in your honour for realising that typhoons are dangerous?

It's all very well blaming the government- and no doubt things could be handled better but you have not made one single practical, realistic, financially feasible suggestion for how it could be improved.

Come back and gloat when you are able to make a constructive comment.

[HowardCoombs]

Talk about shooting themselves in the foot.

Sure, lets

all you people criticizing me on that point(accurately predicted the government's incompetence) can now eat humble pie

Nahh, I think your selective memory is going into overdrive here. You were not being criticised for stating the obvious, you were being roasted for this:

...improve the building code in their country to enhance it's typhoon-resistance...

But thats ok, we are used to your cycle :
make ridiculous remarks, followed by countless criticisms and finally concluded by you not admitting stupidity but rather attempting to deflect and change the subject...