Typhoon Haiyan Update: Church Supplying Relief Supplies to Those in Need

SALT LAKE CITY — 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints expresses condolences
to the millions affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and is
providing shelter, food, water and other basic supplies to evacuees and
displaced families.

An estimated 700,000 people are now displaced. In areas impacted by
 the storm, particularly in the eastern coastal regions, transportation, 
power and communication networks are down.

All Mormon missionaries serving in the Church’s 21 Filipino missions 
are accounted for, with the exception of some serving in the Philippines 
Tacloban Mission. Before the typhoon, missionaries had been moved to 
areas where they would be adequately sheltered, and the Church is working 
to establish contact with Tacloban mission leaders.

“A Church Welfare Department employee is traveling to the island of Leyte 
with communication equipment to establish contact with the Tacloban 
mission president,” said Stephen B. Allen, Missionary Department 
managing director. "We plan to be in communication with those in Leyte 
by Saturday in the Philippines.”

Efforts are also underway to make contact with Church members. 
More than 14,000 members and others have sought refuge in 200 
Church meetinghouses.

As daylight comes, the Church anticipates that missionaries throughout 
the country will begin assisting those in need.

Local Church leaders will spend the weekend assessing further needs of 
both members and the community. 


KSL:

Two days after one of the strongest typhoons on record slammed into the Philippines,
the death toll in the devastated country rises into the thousands.

As many as 10,000 people are believed dead in one city alone. Tacloban is the Leyte
provincial capital of 200,000 people and the biggest city on Leyte Island. About
300-400 bodies have already been recovered. A mass burial was planned Sunday
in Palo town near Tacloban.

Haiyan hit the eastern seaboard of the Philippine archipelago on Friday and quickly
barreled across its central islands before exiting into the South China Sea, packing
winds of 235 kilometers per hour (147 miles per hour) that gusted to 275 kph (170 mph),
and a storm surge that caused sea waters to rise 6 meters (20 feet).