# Typhoon Yolanda & Op RENAISSANCE (CF in the Phillippines 2013)



## tomahawk6 (10 Nov 2013)

Ten thousand people are feared dead in TACLOBAN.I suspect the toll will be much higher throughout the affected area.

http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/typhoon-death-toll-in-1-city-could-reach-10-000-1.252064


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## Nemo888 (10 Nov 2013)

We'll probably send some money in a day or two and some shipping boxes once we know how much of the house is left. I am wondering about stuff to send that will be useful a month or so from now when the box arrives. I know I am sending a big box of these,


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## pbi (10 Nov 2013)

The Philippine Red Cross will probably post a list of things that are required. It looks like many people will have lost everything, so probably just about anything useful would be welcome.


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## Nemo888 (10 Nov 2013)

The crop damage is pretty substantial. Even in adjoining provinces. There will be many hungry poor people shortly. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/524593/yolanda-destroys-p138-6-m-worth-of-crops-report

I have family there so I will be looking after relief personally. It's only 80$ per shipping box to Manila and 110$ to the provinces door to door. I've put up to 120 pounds in them with no problem. I have a friend who has started looking after poor kids and orphans. I like sending books in English. Speaking English is a real sign of status in the Ph. All the professionals speak it, but few of the poor.

If you've ever seen those metal roofing sheets slicing through the streets and the injuries they can cause galvanized roofing screws come to mind. Maybe a Katadyne filter in case the next typhoon hits closer to home. LED lanterns, solar panel and a few solar rechargeable devices with an adapter for cell phones. Maybe even some kids life jackets and goggles so they can get used to the water and not panic if it floods. Not really sure yet what to send.


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## SkyZ (11 Nov 2013)

DART was stood up last night aswell as the USAR team from Comex. The USAR team in Trenton got their warning orders last night too.


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## Nemo888 (11 Nov 2013)

Nice. Potable water is always a problem even at the best of times in some parts of the Ph. It doesn't hurt that there is really no better place to party and the locals will be very appreciative. San Miguel tastes like Labatt 50. Do yourself a favour and order Red Horse. Matador is a decent local Brandy. Hope they get to go. With 600,000 Filipinos in Canada it would be a good political move.


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## CougarKing (11 Nov 2013)

Nemo888 said:
			
		

> Nice. Potable water is always a problem even at the best of times in some parts of the Ph. It doesn't hurt that there is really no better place to party and the locals will be very appreciative. San Miguel tastes like Labatt 50. Do yourself a favour and order Red Horse. Matador is a decent local Brandy. Hope they get to go. With 600,000 Filipinos in Canada it would be a good political move.



Nemo,

Please empty and check your inbox. I've been trying to send you a PM but it keeps saying it's full.

 :facepalm:


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## Bearpaw (11 Nov 2013)

Kudos to Nemo888!

I lived in the Philippines from 2005 to 2011.  One of the best things you could send is the
galvanized roofing screws that Nemo888 has described in a previous post.  These are almost impossible to find in the Philippines---I have suggested some years ago to some of my in-laws to import and distribute them.  The hex-head type that needs a wrench to install would be best---most roofs there are tied down with common nails that make leaks and pull out too easily.

Spiral nails(2+") are also a good thing to send---these are also hard to find there.

If you send any electrical devices be aware that it must be 220V---many of my 110V appliances were burned out there---I used Canadian Flag tape to tag all the plugs for 110V devices.

Other very useful things are small household toolkits--hammer, screwdriver, pliers, crescent wrench,....--Tools are very expensive in the Philippines and most households do not have anything.

A real problem in the Philippines are vitamins for the kids---it is illegal to import vitamins to the Philippines as one of the oligarchs has a monopoly on vitamins.  What is needed most of all is vitamin B complex----if the Filipinos would eat unpolished rice, there would be no problem(most B complex comes from rice polishings!) but unpolished rice goes moldy too quickly in the high humidity.  Most of the developmental problems for kids there are a result of vitamin B deficiency.

I would not recommend sending food---almost all food is cheaper there--by the time any food gets there the food supply problem should be more or less resolved.

Books and school supplies would be very useful---I suspect that most of the schools have been totally wrecked in the central Visayas.

Medical supplies like Ozonal, polysporin,... and Band-aids, bandage materials,.. and small household medical kits will be in great need.

If you have relatives,...that need drinking water, please tell them that using a clear two-litre pop bottle by placing it full of water in the sun will purify 99% of bacteria in about 8 hours.

Hopefully are DART team will be on their way soon---in my mind they should have been on their way 2 days ago.

Wishing for the best for the Philippines,

Bearpaw


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## SkyZ (11 Nov 2013)

Bearpaw said:
			
		

> Hopefully are DART team will be on their way soon---in my mind they should have been on their way 2 days ago.



The Comox USAR team is already on route to do their recce. DART *should* be there within 24 hours of the Comox USAR team landing.

The thing about DART and the CF is they couldn't just go to the Philippines. They needed to wait for them to ask for our assistance and then get permission to go. I just came back from an Ex in Maine last week as a USAR member and they told us to be on standby to move within 24 hours. Everyone was ready to go but we needed the Philippines to ask for our help, then let the Chain up top do what they do before us and DART moved.


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## CougarKing (11 Nov 2013)

Pictures of part of the USMC and other foreign militaries' relief efforts, reposted from other forums:






_Two US Marine aircraft from Okinawa, Japan prepare for their sorties at Villamor Airbase in Pasay City to deliver relief supplies for the victims of super typhoon Yolanda on Monday, November 11. US_











Phil. Air Force C130s on the scene:


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## PMedMoe (11 Nov 2013)

Ottawa sending DART to Philippines after deadly storm 

Canada is sending members of its Disaster Assistance Response Team to the Philippines to aid the emergency response in the typhoon-battered country, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced Monday.

Baird told reporters that a C-17 airplane carrying between 35 and 50 troops – an advance component of DART—as well as equipment and essential items will depart Canada late Monday afternoon.

The advance team will work with Filipino authorities and decide how to use the rest of DART’s resources.

More at link


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## Nemo888 (13 Nov 2013)

Bring snorkeling gear. A typhoon that magnitude will have broken a lot of coral off the bottom. Rare or even highly endangered coral will be washing up dead on the shore. I have a few chunks in my living room. I'd never pull a live piece off and won't even wear sunscreen when swimming in a reef, but dead coral is fair game.


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## tomahawk6 (13 Nov 2013)

Troops escorting aid workers exchanged fire with armed gangs.


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## CougarKing (13 Nov 2013)

tomahawk6 said:
			
		

> Troops escorting aid workers exchanged fire with armed gangs.



In some cases it was armed gangs, in this one below, it was the leftist rebel group called the New People's Army.



> *Philippine troops killed two communist insurgents who attacked an aid convoy en route to typhoon-devastated Tacloban on Tuesday*, the military said, as soldiers were deployed to quell looting by hungry survivors.
> 
> 
> Read More -> Yahoo News


plus photos from various sources:















Plus many people have armed themselves at barricades in front of their homes or businesses to deter looters:


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## CougarKing (13 Nov 2013)

The American hospital ship USNS _Mercy_ is also headed to typhoon-stricken areas:



> US Navy official site newsfeed


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## CougarKing (15 Nov 2013)

They should have also been warned of the NPA leftist rebels, since US Army Colonel James Rowe was killed by the NPAs in the Philippines back in the 1980s, if I can recall correctly.



> *US ARMY TOLD TO KEEP AID AWAY FROM PHILIPPINES GOVT BECAUSE OF CORRUPTION*
> 
> http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/522107/2013...tm#.UoX7jrIaySO
> 
> ...


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## CougarKing (15 Nov 2013)

Reposted from another forum: 



			
				4threich said:
			
		

> Special Thanks to our Canadian friends:
> 
> http://ca.news.yahoo.com/military-helping-canadian-red-cross-hospital-philippines-161351908.html
> 
> ...


_- mod edit to include OP name -_


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## krimynal (15 Nov 2013)

how can someone be part of such a team? since its not like JTF - Cansforgen or anything like that , is it special training or ?


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## The Bread Guy (15 Nov 2013)

And we have an OP name - Operation RENAISSANCE 13-1:


> .... The CAF task force currently includes:
> 
> •Approximately 50 DART personnel drawn primarily from 4 Engineer Support Regiment from 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown as well as engineering equipment and pallets of kit.
> •2 DND/CAF personnel as part of the Interdepartmental Strategic Support Team (ISST);
> ...



Changing thread title to reflect OP name.


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## CougarKing (16 Nov 2013)

Flickr Video: Canadian Forces DART personnel debarking from CC177 and starting relief ops


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## Towards_the_gap (16 Nov 2013)

krimynal said:
			
		

> how can someone be part of such a team? since its not like JTF - Cansforgen or anything like that , is it special training or ?



Bad luck.


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## Armymedic (16 Nov 2013)

:not-again:


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## Humphrey Bogart (16 Nov 2013)

krimynal said:
			
		

> how can someone be part of such a team? since its not like JTF - Cansforgen or anything like that , is it special training or ?



It is a standing tasking that is filled as part of the Managed Readiness Plan.  Certain units are given the tasking and when the unit is stood up they are responsible for providing personnel for the tasking.  

Btw I love all the non-issued kit in the first photo, someone is going to blow a gasket


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## mariomike (16 Nov 2013)

krimynal said:
			
		

> how can someone be part of such a team?



Join the DART team 
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/84129.0

DART
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/37037.0
"How are the DART Team members chosen?"


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## CougarKing (17 Nov 2013)

You can officially add 3 Griffons to the mix mentioned in milnews.ca's post, listing all the units going, above:

National Post



> *Canada bumps up Philippines typhoon relief effort with addition of three military helicopters*
> 
> Benjamin Shingler, Canadian Press | 16/11/13 5:51 PM ET
> 
> ...



Plus another picture from the relief ops:






A Royal Canadian Air Force CC-150 Polaris aircraft with members of the Canadian Armed Forces Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) onboard arrives in Iloilo city airport during Operation RENAISSANCE, in Iloilo city, Philippines on November 16, 2013.

Photo : MCpl Marc-Andre Gaudreault, Canadian Forces Combat Camera
IS2013-2006-024


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## Colin Parkinson (18 Nov 2013)

Just imagine if we had gone with the A400. "Canada will attempt to send DART as soon as space is available on one of the large commercial transport aircraft"


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## CougarKing (18 Nov 2013)

Pics and link about the 3 RCAF Griffons arriving from the National Post:


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## The Bread Guy (20 Nov 2013)

Milpoints to the first person to spot the glitch in the CDS's "atta boy" to the CF on Op Renaissance  >:


> “On November 8th we saw a record setting typhoon descend on the Philippines, wreaking havoc, uprooting entire villages, killing thousands and displacing millions more. The scale of devastation has been horrific, and the needs of the people of the Philippines are been dire.
> 
> “Ladies and gentlemen, I take enormous pride in telling you that the response to this tragedy that I’ve seen from the Canadian Armed Forces has been truly remarkable. Following the lead of the Government of Canada, and working with our Canadian and international partners, we have been enabling crucial humanitarian support on the ground, and making a difference for people with such critical needs.
> 
> ...


Hint:  missed it by one.


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## Jorkapp (20 Nov 2013)

> .CH-147 Griffon



Its CH-146 Griffon, Chinooks are CH-147's.


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## CougarKing (22 Nov 2013)

_Members of the 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron, Edmonton, unload a CH-146 Griffon helicopter from a Royal Canadian Air Force CC-177 Globemaster aircraft to support the Canadian Armed Forces Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) during Operation RENAISSANCE in Iloilo on Tuesday, November 19 for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda._ Source: Embassy of Canada/DFAIT


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## Sf2 (22 Nov 2013)

love it....5 guys pushing....5 guys supervising...and 1 guy taking a picture


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## The Bread Guy (22 Nov 2013)

Guy Incognito said:
			
		

> Its CH-146 Griffon, Chinooks are CH-147's.


Correct!  Belated milpoints to you.


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## McG (17 Dec 2013)

It looks like more of our soldiers will be home for Christmas:


> *DART being pulled out of the Philippines
> Deployed in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan*
> The Canadian Press
> CBC
> ...


 http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/dart-being-pulled-out-of-the-philippines-1.2466592


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## brihard (17 Dec 2013)

315? Wow, I didn't know we sent that many out the door.

BZ to all of them. Some will undoubtedly be shaken by some of what they saw and experienced there.


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## Strike (17 Dec 2013)

> Walter Dorn, an expert in peacekeeping and a professor at the Royal Military College, says humanitarian relief operations consistently rank as the most popular type of mission among Canadians in public-opinion research, carried out by National Defence.



It's too bad there wasn't more of a push from the media machines to publicize all the work that was done.  The photos and stories making the rounds on FB from those working over there were just awesome.  One was of a roof top with the message "Thank-You Canada" marked out on it for the helos to see.


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## dimsum (17 Dec 2013)

From our own info-machine:

http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/news/article.page?doc=canada-s-dart-completes-its-mission-in-the-philippines%2Fhp9p0gka



> OTTAWA — The Government of Canada announced today that the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has completed its humanitarian assistance mission in the Philippines and is currently planning for redeployment to Canada.
> 
> The decision to depart was made in consultation with the Philippines government and the United Nations. Philippine authorities have expressed their gratitude to Canada, along with other nations, some of which have already commenced the hand over of relief efforts to the Philippine military, local government authorities and civilian aid organizations. The Government of the Philippines has also confirmed that their requirements for the relief phase have been met, and civilian partners and the local government are now positioned to attend to the remaining needs of the population. The mission is now one of long term reconstruction and it is one in which Canada will continue to play a role.



More at link.  BZ to DART, ISST and all those who contributed!


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