The situation in the central Philippines is desperate following the Super Typhoon named Yolanda in the archipelago, called “Haiyan” elsewhere in Asia.  The largest storm ever recorded wiped out everything that is sorely needed right now:  Food, Water, Medical Supplies, and Shelter.

Hundreds of thousands of people are homeless, many of them trying to evacuate the area.  Others are staying and trying to reclaim what they can.  Relief teams are battling incredible amounts of debris blocking the roads, hampering their ability to deliver tents and other supplies to the areas where thousands are believed to be dead. 

“Reaching the worst affected areas is very difficult, with limited access due to the damage caused by the typhoon to infrastructure and communications,” said UNICEF Philippines Representative Tomoo Hozumi.

In Tacloban City, there are gruesome scenes of corpses hanging from trees and scattered on sidewalks.  Many more are buried in flattened buildings.  Crews haven’t gotten out into the remote areas.  There are reports that some towns including Baco, a village that is known for its natural beauty, are still underwater.

People are doing what they have to do to survive, and some are handling it better than others. 

“There is looting in the malls and large supermarkets. They are taking everything, even appliances like TV sets. These will be traded later on for food,” said Tacloban city administrator Tecson John Lim.

“People are becoming violent. They are looting business establishments, the malls, just to find food, rice and milk,” said high school teacher Andrew Pomeda, “I am afraid that in one week, people will be killing from hunger.”

Haiyan is now a tropical storm and has made landfall in Vietnam – although still dangerous, damage there isn’t expected to be anywhere near as bad as the devastation across the central Philippines.