One of the most pow­er­ful storms ever record­ed hit the cen­tral Philippines
on Novem­ber 8 with 314-km/  winds that killed about 4,000 peo­ple, swept away
coastal vil­lages and dev­as­tat­ed main cities.

The Philip­pines Ama­teur Radio Asso­ci­a­tion (PARA) and its Ham Emer­gency Radio
Oper­a­tion (HERO) net­work con­tin­ue to pro­vide emer­gency com­mu­ni­ca­tions, although
some com­mu­ni­ca­tions and lim­it­ed pow­er have recent­ly been restored in many
dis­as­ter areas.

HERO sta­tions have worked with author­i­ties includ­ing the Nation­al Disaster
Risk Reduc­tion and Man­age­ment Coun­cil (NDRRMC), the Nation­al Telecommunications
Com­mis­sion (NTC), local com­mu­ni­ties and non-gov­ern­ment organisations.

Ramon Anquilan DU1UGZ, Vice Chief Oper­at­ing Offi­cer of PARA, reports that
many are active through­out the arch­i­pel­ago includ­ing in most typhoon disaster
areas.

The news media has tak­en inter­est with Ramon DU1UGZ being inter­viewed, including
twice on the BBC and also US net­work. Nathan DU5AOK (Tacloban) and Ramon
have also been on radio sta­tion DZBB inter­viewed by the pro­gram anchor Kiko
Flores.

In one inter­view Ramon DU1UGZ told how peo­ple queued up at a HERO station
to get their health and wel­fare mes­sages out.

He knew that ama­teur radio emer­gency com­mu­ni­ca­tions were effec­tive, and the
results saw many “tear­ful moments” occur when the mes­sages got through.
 
The BBC World Ser­vice lat­est can be heard at:      http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01lbk7y/Weekend_17_11_2013/

Ramon DU1UGZ said that a group from Don Bosco Tech­ni­cal Col­lege Mani­la including
a radio ama­teur Rey DV1DWJ has reached Boron­gan and HERO sta­tion of Lester
DV5PO.

With them was fuel for a gen­er­a­tor and he assist­ed them to set up an HF station.
On the Cebu side, Paul Kel­ly (retired US Col) DU7/N1PK is assist­ing the Don
Bosco effort.

PARA Chief Finan­cial Offi­cer, Jojo DU1VHY is a Don Bosco alum­ni and coordinating
its involvement.

In oth­er reports anoth­er group, FARE‑8 of Dipolog City with Roy Garbonera
DV8BQI is on a relief mis­sion on San Remi­gio Ban­tayan Island in Cebu. Roy
has roots there and will be on HF.

In com­ing days the CARL club relief effort head­ed by Sid­ney Tan DW7EEE will
join ham club RECON MACE in the Munic­i­pal­i­ty of Daan­ban­tayan, at the northern
part of Cebu Island.

RECON MACE is assist­ing a French med­ical mis­sion at San­ta Fe Ban­tayan Island.
 A French ham oper­a­tor Denis Ramelet F5PXF has asked PARA to mon­i­tor and
assist the med­ical team, on San­ta Fe Island in Bantayan.

Ramon DU1UGZ said the relief oper­a­tors for Tacloban have arrived and backed
up Nathan DU5AOK who had been the HERO sig­nal in the town.

Manolet DW7DTW has now installed a sta­tion in a pri­vate ware­house with high
ele­va­tion in the city, mak­ing it easy to com­mu­ni­cate with oth­er Dumaguete
City res­cue vol­un­teers on the ground.

A large relief car­a­van from the Munic­i­pal­i­ty of Cabat­u­an, Iloi­lo with Panay
Ama­teur Radio Club mem­bers is packed with relief goods for San Enrique, San
Rafael and Estancia.

Weath­er sys­tems called typhoons, hur­ri­canes or cyclones, are unpredictable
in their for­ma­tion, inten­si­ty, size, speed of move­ment and path. About 20
hur­ri­canes hit The Philip­pines a year.

On the lat­est offi­cial fig­ures, 1,598 peo­ple are miss­ing, 18,175 injured,
2.2 mil­lion affect­ed in 10,365 vil­lages or 44 provinces, 288,922 hous­es lost
and dam­age to 282,884 oth­ers. There are 353,862 peo­ple in 1,550 evacuation
cen­tres. The total prop­er­ty dam­age is esti­mat­ed at $14.5 billion.

‑Jim Lin­ton VK3PC, Chair­man IARU Region 3 Dis­as­ter Com­mu­ni­ca­tions Committee.