Typhoon Lashes Philippines, Amid Fears of a Repeat of Last Year’s Devastation

[TomCADem]

Source: NY Times

CEBU, the Philippines — Typhoon Hagupit began battering the Philippines late Saturday, with strong winds and rain expected to pummel a central belt of the island nation for days as the storm churns westward.

With the memories of last year’s devastating typhoon still fresh, hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from dangerous coastal areas before the storm hit. While Hagupit was weaker Saturday than the earlier typhoon, which killed more than 7,000 people, it is the most powerful storm to hit the country this year.

The worst of the storm appears likely to pass to the north of the city of Tacloban and other areas that were devastated last year by Typhoon Haiyan, according to maps produced by Philippine meteorologists. Fears there have been heightened because many people are still living in temporary shelters there, and emergency shelters have not been fully rebuilt.

“People are very, very nervous,” said Idalia Amaya, the acting program manager for Catholic Relief Services’ shelter program in Tacloban. “It’s just after the one-year anniversary, so people are very traumatized. So they’re taking it very seriously. A lot of families lost loved ones, and everyone was impacted.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/world/asia/philippines-typhoon-hagupit.html?_r=0

[Paper Roses]

1. My thoughts are with these poor people. So many have so little.

With the horrible storms they have had to survive, another one hits. So sad.
We all have our own problems but imagine if you lived in an area that was vulnerable to these weather events.
I hope the damage is not severe.

[Warpy]

2. Here's Haiyan from inside a reinforced concrete fancy hotel

Imagine how scary that was in a tin shack, even far enough inland to miss the storm surge.

I'm glad Tacloban isn't getting the brunt of it again.