Children Playing Amongst Destruction

Typhoon Haiyan: A UNICEF Expert in Tacloban

Leon Dominador "Nonoy" Fajardo has years of experience in disaster zones, but even he has been shocked by the immensity of Haiyan's destruction in the Philippines. Following is an excerpt from his diary, a harrowing on-the-ground report from Tacloban City.

I have been working on emergencies for more than 15 years now, and I seriously thought I had seen it all. But flying into Tacloban on Monday as part of a U.N. assessment team, I was in for a shock. As the plane taxied along the bare runway, I could see mud and ruin — only mud and ruin — where once there had been trees and buildings and all the normal signs of life ... 

Everything that had once been inside the terminal buildings was now outside, and what had been outside was now inside, even including a flight of stairs ... The road from the airport once ran through small fishing villages that lined the coast. They are now completely gone ...I went to the city coliseum to talk to survivors. Even before they opened their mouths, I could see in their eyes the shock, fear and frustration at what they had just been through.

Read his full account here.

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© UNICEF/NYHQ2013-0995/Maitem. A woman and her children rest on the side of a partially flooded street in Tacloban City. © UNICEF/NYHQ2013-0995/Maitem. A woman and her children rest on the side of a partially flooded street in Tacloban City.

 

©UNICEF/PFPG2013V-0189/Maitem