Philippines Devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan

While the Atlantic Ocean is surprisingly quiet during this time of year, the Pacific Ocean is taking on one of the strongest storms in recorded history.

 Super Typhoon Haiyan (referred to as Yolanda in the Philippines) hit the Philippines on November 7th, with winds as high as 195 mph, making the typhoon the strongest to hit land in recorded history. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was “a mere kitten compared to [the] tiger hitting the Philippines,” Phil Beckwith, part-time professor and PhD student in climatology at the University of Ottawa, said to Examiner.com.

 The storm hit primarily the Visayan region of the Philippines, with the city of Tacloban on the island and province of Leyte being hit the hardest.

 There are approximately 10,000 deaths on the island, with the bodies scattered all along the streets of the province. The effects of the storm have been some of the worst that the Philippines has seen in its history.

 Philippine President Benigno Aquino declared the country to be in a state of calamity after the typhoon had left thousands dead and homeless. There is also the potential of more damage from the up and coming tropical storm Zoriada to hit the same affected areas of the Philippines with heavy rainfall this week.

Despite all the disaster in the Philippines, the Filipino people are still hopeful. Ariella Ariba, who was Miss Philippines in the Miss Universe pageant this year, said, “The Filipino spirit is waterproof,” in response to the events regarding Typhoon Haiyan.

If you would like to help victims of the typhoon, CNN has a page dedicated to ways to help. You can visit them here..

 Our prayers go out to the Philippines during this time.