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

[tomahawk6]

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

 

[Nemo888]

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,

 

[pbi]

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.

 

[Nemo888]

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.

 

[SkyZ]

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.

 

[Nemo888]

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.

 

[CougarKing]

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:

 

[Bearpaw]

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

 

[SkyZ]

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.

 

[CougarKing]

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:

 

[PMedMoe]

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

 

[Nemo888]

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.

 

[tomahawk6]

Troops escorting aid workers exchanged fire with armed gangs.

 

[CougarKing]

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:

 

[CougarKing]

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

US Navy official site newsfeed

 

[CougarKing]

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


Typhoon Haiyan, locally known as Yolanda, left the central part of the Philippines devastated with an official death toll of 2,357 and 600,000 people displaced, according to authorities. Countries and various organisations around the world sent donations, medical and military personnel to aid ongoing relief operations.

As international aid continues to pour for the Philippines, the country's Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has confirmed that most of the donations will not be handed over to Philippine government agencies.

In an interview on Nov 13, DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez said all international monetary donors will be coursing money through relief organisations, foundations and charitable institutions. The DFA will serve as the first contact of countries and international organisations that has pledged to donate. It will then pass the information to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and other related agencies involved in relief operations.

Some donors have reportedly began handing out relief goods to affected communities while others gave their in-kind donations to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the NDRRMC.

The U.S. Marines were reportedly instructed not to let Philippine government officials and politicians touch the relief goods that will arrive in Samar. Five C130 panes are scheduled to arrive, carrying relief goods from the United Nations.

Six days after one of the strongest typhoons ever recorded hit the cities and towns in central region of the Philippines, survivors became increasingly frustrated with the government's slow response to distribute badly needed food and water.

Death toll controversy

President Benigno Aquino said in a press briefing that local officials had overstated the number of deaths. The embattled president said the official tally was closer to 2,500 rather than the 10,000 intially reported. Aid workers in the devastated areas became skeptical of Mr Aquino's comments.

There have been reports and footage of near anarchy as some people resorted to looting warehouses and shops to find food, water and supplies. Eight people were crushed to death when alleged looters decided to raid a government stockpile of rice in the town of Alangalang.

Tacloban City Administrator Tecson John Lim said 90 per cent of the city had been destroyed and only 20 per cent of survivors have received relief goods. Mr Lim said the "looters" should not be treated as criminals since the people are growing desperate for food and water. He said the people had to do something for survival and self-preservation.

 

[CougarKing]

Reposted from another forum:

Special Thanks to our Canadian friends:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/military-helping-canadian-red-cross-hospital-philippines-161351908.html

http://www.philippineflightnetwork.com/2013/11/canadian-relief-team-bound-for-iloilo.html

Canadian Disaster response team arrive in Iloilo City to assist relief efforts in Panay island.

| via @TeamAFP

photo owned by Tara Yap

from Mayor Jed of Iloilo City FB
https://www.facebook.com/jedpatrickmabilog/posts/544248705663152

----

THANK YOU

- mod edit to include OP name -

 

[krimynal]

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

 

[The Bread Guy]

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);
◦The ISST is the first element of Canada’s whole-of-government humanitarian response. Led by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and Development (DFATD), it includes representatives from the Canadian Armed Forces. The ISST is ready to deploy at 12 hours- notice to move, and can be in location of a major disaster quickly to consult the government of the affected nation, liaise with international agencies and humanitarian organizations, and make recommendations to DFAIT on potential areas for a Canadian response.
•A CC-144 Challenger to transport this team to the Philippines;
•19 CAF personnel from the Humanitarian Assistance Reconnaissance Team (HART);
◦The HART is a group of CAF personnel who deploy to the affected nation with the ISST immediately following a major disaster in order to assist and give advice to the ISST on CAF capabilities and employment. Made up of headquarters staff and a reconnaissance element, the HART liaises with the ISST and the headquarters of Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC) in order to prepare for the arrival and employment of follow-on CAF assets.
•A 43-member Advance Party of the DART, including medical, logistical, engineering personnel, which will eventually prepare for the arrival of the main body and DART capabilities which could deploy at a later date; and
•2 x CC-177 Globemaster to transport the first two elements of the DART to the Philippines ....

Changing thread title to reflect OP name.

 

[CougarKing]

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