EDMONTON – An Edmonton woman who was born in the Philippines says she hasn’t slept since Wednesday, waiting to hear if her family is alive, after one of the strongest storms on record slammed into her home country.
“It’s scary,” Erlinda Tan said Friday evening. “I’m hoping, praying for the best. But I also have to be realistic.”
Tan has lived in Edmonton for about five years, after spending a year in Singapore following her move from the Philippines. Her mother, sister, one of her brothers, his wife and their two children (seen below) still live in the city of Tacloban on Leyte Island, one of the areas hardest hit by Super Typhoon Haiyan.
Capt. John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, says more than 100 people in the City of Manila were killed, and more than 100 others were injured in Tacloban Friday, as the typhoon swept across the country.
READ MORE: Super Typhoon Haiyan slams Philippines killing more than 100
“The typhoon made landfall at 1:00 Edmonton time. The last time I spoke with my mom was 11:00 in the morning yesterday,” Tan explained. “I didn’t sleep yet, two hours of sleep. I feel feverish and I’ve never felt like this before.”
As she watches the devastation on television, Tan says the hardest part is that there’s no communication.
“I would rather know what’s going on, even if I know that it’s devastating, than know nothing. There’s zero communication,” she said. “The last footage we saw on TV, there was a flash flood in the downtown area and that’s where my family lives.”
Typhoon Haiyan raced across a string of islands Friday, with wind gusts of 275 kph, from east to west – Samar, Leyte, Cebu and Panay.
IN PHOTOS: Monster storm roars into Philippines
Nearly 800,000 people were forced to flee their homes, including Tan’s mother.
Tan says her family is always ready for disaster, and knows they would have bought extra water, food, and batteries in preparation for the storm. But still, she can’t help but worry.
“We actually know the drills, because we grew up with typhoons and earthquakes. But this is just different,” she said. “I know that 72 hours after a calamity is very critical. And even if they prepared for food and water, because of the flash flood, that would be useless.”
Tan is just one of many in Edmonton’s Filipino community worried about loved ones back home.
“It was a shocking experience for the Filipinos. For the people in the community here, we worry a lot,” said Jun Angeles, publisher of the Alberta Filipino Journal in Edmonton. “It’s beyond imagination. I’ve heard it’s one of the strongest typhoons on planet earth.”
Angeles says it will be extremely difficult, but “Filipinos are very resilient and I know they can come out of this devastation.”
With more than 45,000 Filipinos in Edmonton, and more than 100,000 across Alberta, Angeles says help for the Philippines will be there.
“I’m trying to spearhead this kind of fundraising event with the help of the different associations and civic organizations,” he said. “Our help will be there.”
He says details of the fundraiser will be made available in the days to come.
Meanwhile, Tan says she’ll be spending her days by her phone and computer, waiting for any word from back home.
“All I want is for them to be alive.”
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