
Typhoon Haiyan kills 10,000 in Philippines - r0h1n
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/10/typhoon-haiyan-kills-10000-in-philippines-live-updates
======
rdl
I still don't get why the US Navy hasn't put an LHD or equivalent amphibious
group into the relief effort -- it would be a great humanitarian thing, plus a
show of strength for one of our key Pacific allies after the "pivot to Asia"
\-- a pretty clear implication that if we can put a battalion ashore to help
hours after a hurricane, we can do similar things during a conflict. Extra
points due to the huge number of USN sailors who come from the Philippines. It
would be a super-cheap way to build US credibility in the region, help people,
and deter future conflict.

~~~
steve19
It does not make sense for the government/Navy to have disaster relief ships
on high alert (like the Marines are for example). The cost of maintaining that
high alert status is high and the money would be much better spent nearly
providing a lot more (but a little less timely) aid and support. I am sure the
Navy will help, just maybe not today or tomorrow.

~~~
rdl
Right now the problem actually seems to be logistics. You can use the Marines
as first responders -- what you need are helicopters and landing craft, fuel,
power, comms, food, and water, which are exactly what a combat force uses in
an assault as well. By downloading weapons, they could take extra supplies for
civilians, and their own support.

The deterrence point of doing it instantly is that you can show just how fast
and how hard an amphibious force can deploy. That's pretty much the only value
of an amphibious force like the doctrinal mission of the Marines anymore;
they'll never do an opposed amphibious landing with a long lead up, due to
ATGMs/etc. being so effective.

One of the best things the US Military has ever done for our national security
in the war on terror was helping out pretty substantially after the Kashmir
2005 earthquake -- there were helicopters in the air hours after it hit, from
the US and UK forces in Afghanistan.

------
jedbrown
"""It's worth reiterating that for all the obvious destructive power of
sustained wind speeds of almost 200mph, it was the associated storm surge –
the rush of water into coastal areas – which caused the worst damage in
Tacloban, and most likely many of the deaths. The storm surge in Tacloban was
estimated at 6m, sweeping away even concrete buildings, and bringing the sort
of devastation so reminiscent of the Indian Ocean tsunami."""

The primary constraint seems to be infrastructure to evacuate and shelter
people. Reliable forecast of storm surge location and magnitude would save
lives by allocating those resources to the correct places. Doing this well
involves improved simulation methods, but also designing observational
strategies, such as where to make more accurate measurements of bathymetry
(one of the leading sources of uncertainty in storm surge and tsunami
prediction). _Disclaimer: I work in a related field and have colleagues that
develop methods for storm surge forecast._

~~~
phreanix
What would you suggest is a good system/set-up that would have made a
difference here?

~~~
tomrod
It's hard to say. You need large hurricane-proofed buildings in the higher
barangays. As a person intimately familiar with the Tacloban/Leyte area,
that's hard to accomplish since the area is so low-lying where it hit hardest.

The three biggest needs to prevent a large death-toll from something like
this:

1\. Education regarding effects of disasters (e.g. what a storm surge is, what
areas are likely to be affected by landslides, etc.)

2\. Basic first aid medication (having seen my fair share of misadventure in
the Philippines, I can confidently say that a subsidized boy scout-style
training program would work wonders there)

3\. Instructions for putting together 72-hour crash bags, which should be kept
in convenient locations (this is a good idea generally -- no matter where one
lives a calamity could occur, and having copies of important
documents/candles/matches/clean water can make a huge difference).

------
phektus
I came from the capital. My family lives beside Laguna lake in Taguig.
Whenever there's a storm my village gets flooded (mainly due to poor flood
control) and everything becomes hard in terms of dealing with your daily
business. Obviously nothing in comparison to what Haiyan did to Tacloban city,
but the panic induced by the thunder, the cold feeling from the rain, plus the
fear of losing a lot from the waters and looters is still deeply etched in my
brain.

Now I'm based in another country but I have lots of relatives in the area that
was in the path of the storm. Also, this estimate came from just one area
(although the worst hit). We are a hardy people but to get this every year
coupled with the stress of knowing your officials are stealing a fair bit of
what could have been used to help... well, kind of pulls you down.

~~~
mattquiros
What's worse is that these disasters have been happening regularly since 2009,
when Typhoon Ketsana (known locally as Ondoy) struck the capital. What has the
government done to really damage-proof the Philippines since? It was obvious
right then that something like that would happen every year, and it did, yet
there doesn't seem to be a concrete, long-term plan of action from the
government.

~~~
anigbrowl
Well, I was impressed to see they evacuated a large number of people this
time, which hasn't always been the case. that doesn't sem like much but bear
mind that the Philippines is a poor country, and second that it's essentially
an archipelago made out of hundreds of small inhabited islands with fairly low
average elevation (IIRC it's actually a few _thousand_ islands, but not all of
them are inhabited).

I'm not sure there's a whole lot you _can_ do to 'damage proof' territory like
this, other than simply abandoning outlying parts of it and hoping they act as
a sea wall (and with a ~90m population, you also have the problem of where to
put those people). Their options really are limited, especially in the face of
record breaking weather events. Consider that if this storm had hit the
Maldives it would almost certainly have wiped out the entire _country_ ,
permanently.

------
ck2
US "news" is _finally_ starting to cover this.

I mean 10K, that is just beyond devastating, it should be front page news for
months. We lost 1800 with Katrina.

~~~
forktheif
The 2004 Tsunami killed 250,000 people, and that only managed to stay on the
news for a few weeks.

~~~
ck2
Oh my gosh I had no idea the final toll was that high.

That part of the world is being devastated.

~~~
aestra
According to the U.S. Geological Survey a total of 227,898 people died.
Measured in lives lost, this it was one of the ten worst earthquakes in
recorded history, as well as the single worst tsunami in history. Indonesia
was the worst affected area, with most death toll estimates at around 170,000.
However, another report by Siti Fadilah Supari, the Indonesian Minister of
Health at the time, estimated the death total to be as high as 220,000 in
Indonesia alone, giving a total of 280,000 casualties.

It is also the fifth deadliest natural disaster since 1900.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_disasters_by_de...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_disasters_by_death_toll#Ten_deadliest_natural_disasters_of_the_past_century)

A large proportion of those killed were children.

There were no deaths in The Philippines from the tsunami.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_an...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami)

------
gexla
Wow, that's an insane death toll. To put this in perspective, last year,
another super typhoon, Pablo, killed close to 2000 I believe. The year before
that another devastating typhoon, Sendong, killed something like 1200. The
Philippines regularly gets hit with 20 typhoons each year and the typhoon
season isn't over. Each of the above mentioned typhoons hit in December. This
has to be among the deadliest in Philippines history and the season isn't even
over yet.

I'm located in the southern end of Negros Oriental, which was under warning
signal 3 (out of 4) but we were on the edge of the storm. We got off very
light. If it weren't for the news, we wouldn't have even thought that we might
be affected by a typhoon.

Unfortunately, the Philippines isn't like Japan, where the country can
mobilize the resources to make the country highly resistant to it's own
nemesis of nature, earthquakes. Many of the people here live in bamboo /
wooden structures which stand no chance against a strong typhoon. The most
vulnerable are also the poorest. In Dumaguete, minimum wage is the equivalent
of $6 per day, but that's a well paying job. Most businesses here use
loopholes to pay employees half the minimum wage. The people who have lost
their entire towns in the Philippines have no resources, nothing to eat and
nowhere to go. There is no no longer a functioning economy. All they can do is
wait for help.

I don't know if this has anything to do with global warning, but in the five
years I have lived here, our area has been hit with two devastating typhoons
in the past three years. Before that, strong typhoons hitting our area were
rare. Though we dodged this bullet, the above mentioned typhoons hit us head
on. If this is something that the Philippines can regularly expect due to
changes in weather, then large portions of the country could become unlivable
without huge changes.

This is the sort of area where we could really use some innovation. Typhoons
bring a double threat of high winds and floods. Add volcanoes and earthquakes
(just a few weeks ago we got hit with a 7.2 earthquake) and the Philippines is
among the most dangerous places to live on the planet. We need low cost
structures which can shield people from high winds, floods and earthquakes.
Sure, we can hide in a shelter, but we can't deal with the possibility of
losing our house and possessions every year.

Edit: Changed tornado to typhoon. _Facepalm_

Edit2: Recovery also can take a long time in the Philippines. Not far from
where I live is an area with temporary structures (basically a squatter area)
which was setup to be temporary. A year later and this area is still full. I
suppose Katrina was similar with the temporary housing situation, but in this
case we are talking a flimsy bamboo / wooden structure with plastic tarps on
the sides. These structures could easily get wiped out by one of the 20 yearly
typhoons which hit the Philippines every year.

Also, the people of New Orleans at least have government safety nets. The
mayor of our city, Dumaguete, set aside something like $9,000 as an emergency
fund in anticipation of Yolanda. Like I said, not a lot of resources here.

~~~
hannibal5
To put things into context. 1.3 million people die and 50 million people are
injured in car accidents every year.

Nature disasters are just side show in human life at this point.

~~~
3825
This comparison is outrageous. Speaking of things out of context, fewer than
three thousand people died in 9/11[0].

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_September_11...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_September_11_attacks)

~~~
late2part
Exactly wrong. The response to the acts of war on 9/11 are disingenuous, and
not commensurate with the impact. The costs we as citizens pay for a false
sense of security are orders of magnitude more than the risk presented. It is
sad these people in the Phillipines died. We should help the survivors and we
should help the survivors be able to withstand future problems by building
better safer infrastructure and other methods. But, this is a normal event in
human culture, the comparison is not outrageous, it is simply scientifically
accurate. The author's choice of the word sideshow is callous, but objectively
somewhat accurate. To those involved or effected by this - it's anything but a
sideshow, which is where relative perspective comes in. We should have
sympathy and help - but help in all ways.

------
AYBABTME
My wife is in Vietnam and I've been worried for days about where the typhoon
would go (South or North). Its silly but I'm relieved it's avoiding the South.

When I was telling her about the storm, I realized that people are that more
exposed to natural disasters since they don't usually store food. At least in
her surrounding, people buy food off the market everyday and don't have
reserves, leaving them completely exposed to any disaster affecting food
supplies.

------
elleferrer
U.S. military will support typhoon recovery efforts in various ways.

The U.S. military announced that Secretary Chuck Hagel has directed troops to
support these humanitarian missions. That includes deploying aircraft for
search-and-rescue missions, bringing in aid and providing logistical support.

The U.S. force will be led by Marines out of Okinawa, Japan, according to two
U.S. military officials. Other military services will participate.

[http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/09/world/asia/philippines-
typhoon...](http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/09/world/asia/philippines-typhoon-us-
assistance/index.html)

~~~
rdl
It was clear days before landfall that this was a huge storm; the ships should
have already been enroute, and other supplies staged in Guam and Okinawa.

~~~
brown9-2
Wouldn't travelling from Okinawa to Philippines have put those ships in the
path of the storm?

~~~
phreanix
Not quite, japan is north of the Philippines and the storm hit the southern
end. Still, I'm sure with a storm that large, it would make for a rough trip.

------
carrotsarm
This could have clearly been avoided. See what India did with Phalin, with an
early warning system and planned evacuation:
[http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/10/13/india-cyclone-
phail...](http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/10/13/india-cyclone-phailin-
odisha-andhra-idINDEE99C00C20131013)

Less than 20 people died.

~~~
gexla
I don't know, there are a lot of variables. As someone else mentioned, not
only was this storm stronger, but it was at the theoretical maximum strength
that a storm could be. So, it's possibly among the strongest ever to hit land.

You can't get good info from the news and of course any government will has
its own agenda to look good. Getting good data from 3rd world countries is
also hard.

We took a direct hit (eye passed over the city) from what was at one time the
equivalent of a cat 5 hurricane (Pablo) in the southern part of Negros
Oriental in the Philippines last year. I don't know what strength it was by
the time it got to us, but the winds were pretty damn scary. Fortunately, this
typhoon was mostly wind and not much rain. The typhoon created a mess, but we
were largely back to normal in one day.

The year previous to Pablo, we got hit by Sendong which seemed like the
opposite of Pablo. There wasn't much wind, but the rain was heavy and steady
for something like 10 hours. That rain created much more destruction and lost
lives than the winds from Pablo.

So, each typhoon has its own personality. You can't do an apples to apples
comparison from one storm to another. It's typical of media to make such a
comparison.

The Philippines also has some logistical difficulties that India may not have.
It's an archipelago of over 7,000 islands and a very poor country. India has
its poor areas also, but the nation as a whole has far more resources.

The Philippines did make an effort to evacuate people and clearly the nation
could have better prepared. There is always more that you can do. I don't know
how this area in India compares to the Philippines, but we get hit with an
average of something like 20 typhoons every year. The Philippines is among the
most dangerous places on the planet for natural disasters.

Shelters a great for saving lives, and that's the most important, but it also
sucks to lose your house and all your belongings. If someone is looking for a
world changing innovation, then figuring out a way to make a cheap structure
which could withstand the sorts of natural disasters that the Philippines gets
hit with regularly would be huge.

ETA:

[http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/10/21389125-typho...](http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/10/21389125-typhoon-
haiyan-us-forces-heading-to-storm-devastated-philippine-islands?lite)

> Most of the deaths appear to have been caused by surging seas that resembled
> a tsunami, flattening buildings and drowning hundreds, according to Reuters.

This supports what I mentioned earlier. The wind is bad, but in a typhoon,
it's water which really ratchets up the number of casualties. Comparing winds
speeds of two different typhoons isn't necessarily comparing the most
destructive components.

~~~
phreanix
Thank you for this.

It's easy to make armchair judgements and comparison when not armed with all
the facts.

The truth is, the country will always have issues (bureaucracy, corruption,
etc) dealing with these natural disasters, but combatting poverty will go much
further in avoiding loss of life. The vast majority of those affected have a
hand to mouth existence and have basically no choice but to live in areas that
put them in the highest risk (low lying, coastal, flood prone) in structures
that are all but guaranteed to fail in a storm.

------
elleferrer
Right now the important things needed are hospital ships, helicopters, medical
supplies, drinking water, food and shelters... I feel so helpless donating
just cash, so many lives need to be helped.

~~~
user24
Regarding 'just cash', I would like to quote the Red Cross:

"The best way to help a disaster victim is through a financial donation to the
Red Cross. Financial contributions allow the Red Cross to purchase exactly
what is needed for the disaster relief operation. Monetary donations also
enable the Red Cross to purchase relief supplies close to the disaster site
which avoids delays and transportation costs in getting basic necessities to
disaster victims. Because the affected area has generally experienced
significant economic loss, purchasing relief supplies in or close to the
disaster site also helps to stimulate the weakened local economy."

[http://www.redcross.org/support/donating-
fundraising/other-w...](http://www.redcross.org/support/donating-
fundraising/other-ways-to-give/donating-goods)

~~~
ck2
Do not freaking donate to the Red Cross.

Find a local charity.

The Red Cross is HORRIBLY inefficient and wasteful. Your money is buying them
furniture.

~~~
user24
Firstly you can't throw claims like that around without a source, secondly I
don't think now is the time to make FUD about which charity to donate to,
thirdly that's tangential to what I was quoting (that cash is better than
goods), and fourthly [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/10/typhoon-
haiyan-...](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/10/typhoon-haiyan-
kills-10000-in-philippines-live-updates#block-527f6de7e4b055987af6768e)

edit: fifthly:
[http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary...](http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3277#.Un99so05h0Q)

~~~
ck2
Maybe they behave better in other parts of the world, but the Red Cross in the
USA is everyone's knee-jerk reaction to throw money at, and they have many
many issues:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Red_Cross#Controversie...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Red_Cross#Controversies)

[http://articles.latimes.com/2006/feb/04/local/me-
redcross4](http://articles.latimes.com/2006/feb/04/local/me-redcross4)

[https://www.google.com/search?q=Red+Cross+resigns](https://www.google.com/search?q=Red+Cross+resigns)

(note all the resignations are different people!)

[http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/18/red-
cro...](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/18/red-cross-sandy-
recovery/2508065/)

[http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2012/11/12/the-
problem...](http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2012/11/12/the-problem-with-
the-red-cross/)

and there was a huge scandal where they used emergency fund donations to buy
furniture for their offices - having trouble finding it right now

~~~
ceejayoz
The controversies linked in the Wikipedia article seem pretty ho-hum for an
organization the size of the Red Cross. Stuff like credit checks of
volunteers, following the FDA's (stupid) rule on blood from homosexual males,
a dispute with Johnson + Johnson, etc. hardly support the allegation of mass
corruption in the group.

------
austenallred
If you are trying to find someone in the Philippines in the aftermath of the
typhoon, you can try using one of these sources:

PeopleLocator ([https://pl.nlm.nih.gov/](https://pl.nlm.nih.gov/))

Google PersonFinder
([http://google.org/personfinder/2013-yolanda/query?role=seek](http://google.org/personfinder/2013-yolanda/query?role=seek))

alternate source for Google PersonFinder
([http://google.org/personfinder/global/home.html](http://google.org/personfinder/global/home.html))

Red Cross request for help restoring contact
([http://familylinks.icrc.org/en/pages/home.aspx](http://familylinks.icrc.org/en/pages/home.aspx))

If you would like to donate, here are some organizations that could use your
help:

Red Cross Philippines
([http://www.redcross.org.ph/donate](http://www.redcross.org.ph/donate)) via
Paypal

Ayala Foundation's 'Laging Handa Fund' (Always Ready), overseas donors can use
this online portal([http://feedthehungryphil.org/ayala-foundation-
inc/](http://feedthehungryphil.org/ayala-foundation-inc/)) for donations

GlobalGiving.com([http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/philippines-disaster-
re...](http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/philippines-disaster-response/)).
Credit and debit card donations accepted.

Save the Children
([http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.885610...](http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.8856103/k.9BA3/Typhoon_Haiyan.htm)).
Save the Children has a team on the ground in Tacloban working to respond to
this emergency.

Now, unfortunately we wait for lack of sanitation, clean water and associated
disease to take their much higher toll.

The situation report has the following information: 2,055,630 families or
9,497,847 persons were affected.

The number of confirmed casualties is still low, at 229. This number will
inevitably increase drastically when response efforts proceed and
communication lines are repaired.

The number of damaged houses is currently at 19,551 (13,191 have been totally
destroyed)

A state of calamity has been declared in the province of Antique, as well as
in Janiuay and Dumangas in the province of Iloilo

Flooding, landslides, and fallen trees blocked several roads, but most are now
passable thanks to ongoing clearing operations *Several networks are still
down but are in the process of being restored

~~~
shivaas
We at Remitly are pitching in by waiving all fees for donations sent to the
Red Cross. Please spread the word and donate via www.remitly.com directly to
Red Cross Philippines. We have pre-filled all their bank info etc for your
convenience.

------
garg
News reports before the typhoon hit said 4000 people had been evacuated. Why
only 4000? Lack of resources?

Now that the typhoon has devastated the philippines, the international
community is sending aid, money, resources. Why can't the same be done before
a disaster like this hits? I'm sure the millions pouring in now could have
gone a long way to evacuate people or set up shelters, dams, pumps, before it
killed 10,000+

And for the financially minded bureaucrat, I'd guess preventive measures would
possibly cost less as well.

~~~
phreanix
I've actually read about over a million people evacuated and in shelters.

[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/08/typhoon-
haiyan-...](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/08/typhoon-haiyan-
batters-philippines)

Sadly, it seems international aid is more efficient at post-event response.
The government tried to mobilize as well as it was able, but that will never
be enough. (See: Katrina, japan earthquake/tsunami).

I still have friends I haven't heard from, and have friends who haven't heard
from their family. The days of shocked reflection after disasters are always
filled with what-ifs and fruitless hindsight. I agree with rdl above that
innovations have to be made but most importantly a plan for better wealth
creation for the country's poorest who are often the hardest hit. In these
modern times, it shouldn't take 10,000 lives to spur that on.

------
pajop
Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation is accepting donations via
[http://brickbybrick.pdrf.org/yolanda](http://brickbybrick.pdrf.org/yolanda)
here's the rest of the info on how you can help: [http://www.rappler.com/move-
ph/issues/disasters/43300-relief...](http://www.rappler.com/move-
ph/issues/disasters/43300-reliefph-victims-typhoon-yolanda-help)

------
gesman
I donated a bit to:
[https://www.wfp.org/donate/typhoon](https://www.wfp.org/donate/typhoon)

This thing needs lots of help now.

------
sandGorgon
can someone who is better informed than me compare the typhoon a few weeks
back in orissa, India with 12 casualties and this one.

note - this isn't a rhetoric. I genuinely want to understand what is the
reason for such a massive difference. I have financial interests in that exact
part of India and actually have been thinking that the govt is pretty well
prepared (given, well that it is India).

~~~
gexla
I mentioned this in another thread, but I will regurgitate it here.

I don't consider myself well informed. But I live in the Philippines and I
have been in a high wind, light flooding typhoon and a low wind high flooding
typhoon. Of the two, the high flooding typhoon caused a lot more damage and
loss of life.

You can't make apples to apples comparisons on typhoons. Wind speed isn't
necessarily the most destructive factor. Wind creates a lot of damage, but its
flooding which creates high casualty counts. The devastating tsunamis we have
recently seen is a great example of this.

From this article.

[http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/10/21389125-typho...](http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/10/21389125-typhoon-
haiyan-us-forces-heading-to-storm-devastated-philippine-islands?lite)

> Most of the deaths appear to have been caused by surging seas that resembled
> a tsunami, flattening buildings and drowning hundreds, according to Reuters.

It's certainly possible that the region you mentioned in India was better
prepared, but I'm guessing that the flooding was worse in the 1999 storm.

The Philippines typhoon was among the strongest to ever hit hand. It neared
the theoretical maximum strength of a typhoon. One of the methods used to
measure the strength of a typhoon is the Dvorak scale which goes up to 8. At
the peak of the storm, it hit 8 and they could no longer measure it. They
could only estimate that it went up to as much as 8.2.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_technique](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_technique)

~~~
eru
Why is there a theoretical maximum strength for a typhoon? What limits them?

------
frakkingcylons
The Boston Globe has a great series of photographs of the aftermath:

[http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2013/11/typhoon_haiyan.html](http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2013/11/typhoon_haiyan.html)

------
frank_boyd
And we all knew for a very long time now that this kind of disaster is due to
climate change.

And we all don't seem to care at all. At least not enough to changer our
patterns of consumption.

------
clockwerx
For those looking to help, if you know the area or are an experienced mapper,
[http://tasks.hotosm.org](http://tasks.hotosm.org)

------
Udo
Does anyone know if Batangas (more specifically: Nasugbu) was hit badly?

~~~
aangeles
It wasn't hit badly

~~~
Udo
Are you there right now?

~~~
aangeles
Im from neighboring provice of laguna and i think storm signal for batangas
only reach signal no. 2

~~~
Udo
Laguna was signal #1, right? I hope everything is OK where you are. My brother
and his family live in Nasugbu, I haven't been able to get in touch for a few
days - but then again they might be traveling right now so nobody knows if
they were even home.

------
oakaz
How can we help this disaster as software engineers? Any ideas?

~~~
DanBC
Long term:

Have a look at websites like this, and see if you can make them better.
[http://reliefweb.int/](http://reliefweb.int/) Better means lots of things,
but "easier to use with very low or intermittent bandwidth"; "easier to use
for an international audience" etc.

Take the most important Wikipedia articles (where "importance" is about STEM
education) and polish them into the very best they can be, with clear easy to
understand text and nice examples and best diagrams. Translate these to
different languages. (Whatever is used in areas that need them, so I guess
Spanish, French, Portuguese, and whatever.) This might require a form from WP.

Investigate charities that do good work. Donate to those charities. Good work
means different things to different people, but probably includes "doesn't
spend too much of its funds on luxury offices and big wages" and "makes a
change, doesn't just continue cycles of deprivation".

Research and promote low power computing. Most people have _huge_ computers
for what they actually do. Really, using social media, watching a few cat
videos, and writing the occasional letter do not need gigabytes of RAM and 3
GHz quad core processors. Help with low resource Open Source projects. Never
mind LXDE and XFCE, most people would be fine with JWM or IceWM. Moving people
from 100 Watt desktop machines to 8 W arm (or similar) nettops would be useful
for climate change.

There's bound to be some interesting but difficult to access research work
around distribution - distribution of money and resources within organisations
and from those orgs to the places where they're needed. Stuff crossing
boundaries is an opportunity for loss. Those boundaries include geographical
borders but also include regulatory boundaries for organisations.
Visualisations of the journey of a donated dollar through the bureaucracies to
the final endpoint would be fascinating, and possibly enraging, for many
people.

Vote for people who don't do stupid things to developing nations.

Be careful when donating hardware to charity recycling. Often anything usable
is sold off, with the junk being sent to places like the e-waste dump in
Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana. Here's a programme and a clip about that dump.
([http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sch78](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sch78))
([http://videobam.com/rcEUM](http://videobam.com/rcEUM))

~~~
oakaz
thanks for the great answer

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atmosx
Cheap, easy-to-assemble, open source technologies that will help communities
to protect themselves will really _change the world_ :-(

~~~
TylerE
Unless you can open source a few billion cubic meters of concrete it would
have done fuck all.

~~~
mistermann
Assuming concrete is the _only_ solution to the problem.

~~~
TylerE
When the problem is essentially damming a 100-mile wide river, yea, it's
pretty much the only solution. Again, the damage here was the tsunami-scale
storm surge, not so much the wind.

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lazylizard
how about a humblebundle/indieroyale/indiegala/gog Haiyan bundle?

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kimonos
I am from Negros Occidental, Philippines and we were spared from the
destruction of Haiyan. But me and my family are continually praying for more
help for the victims especially for those who lost their families. We are also
thankful for people from other nations who extended their help. Filipinos will
stand up and rise again! God bless us all!

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emanuelsaringan
I'll just leave this here:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzxTXk1JCFw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzxTXk1JCFw)

To Americans: Is this even legit?

~~~
SilverSurfer972
The data is there, everybody and check it and get its own conclusions. The one
I get is disturbing

