Fil-Am community anxious over devastation of Yolanda in central Philippines

by Susan Palmes

Scenes of devastation wrought by super typhoon “Yolanda” in Central Visayas 

in the Philippines caused anxiety and drew sympathy from Fil-Americans here 

at North Carolina.

Len Stevens, a native of Albuera, Leyte which is three hours drive to the

capital town Tacloban, said she last made contact with her family at past 12 

midnight.

She said she talked with her sister Hazel about the typhoon since her family 

lived near the ocean. Len said she's worried because it had been two days and 

she had yet to contact her family through Skype.

Len's parents are Fe Bignay and Edwin Bignay and her sisters are named 

Junerose and Hazel. Len Stevens, the eldest, had been here in Charlotte for 

two years already and is pregnant with her first baby.

She said she she grew up in the Philippines and learned to live with the huge 

waves caused by typhoons. “But this is different, I saw on TV that banana trees 

were toppled.” Len said.

Another Filipino-American, Ghing Vought, said she couldn't contact her parents 

in Mahplag, Leyte, one of the hardest hit in the Philippines.

"Even my sisters in Manila also tried to contact them- no luck.” Vought said.

For her part, Annete Ray is sad that she couldn't contact her father Nido 

Amores of San Remegio town, Cebu.

She said it has been a month that she last talked with him along with her half-

brothers. She learned about the news here in Charlotte and is hoping that she 

could make contact with her father soon.

PinoySa Carolinas contacted Florami Cuardero-Lee, the president of the Fil-

American Association in North Carolina (FACC) and asked if the association has 

information on how many Filipinos came from the affected areas.

“We don't have the geographical population of our members what islands 

they're from, all I know is they're Visayans or Ilocanos. But I have friends from 

north of Cebu that were badly affected,” she said.

A report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer stated that President Benigno Aquino 

III ordered the military and all search and rescue teams to locate both 

survivors  and the dead in the communities badly hit by Yolanda, which made 

several landfalls in Central Visayas last Friday.

A report from Reuters said the initial death toll in Leyte reached 10,000, with 

70 to 80 percent of the province destroyed. Relief assistance from the 

government and groups are headed to the affected areas.