Typhoon Haiyan: Families Search For Relatives

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent, in Leyte

Many thousands of relatives of those who were hit by the typhoon still have no idea of the fate of their loved ones.

At the ferry terminal in Cebu city, hundreds are queuing to make the hardest of journeys.

Communications on the neighbouring island where their families live are down, the pictures emerging are grim and so the only way they will find out if their families survived is to go.

A woman with an umbrella stands amid the rubble of Tacloban, Leyte

Ramon Gerado Jnr, 46, has made an extraordinary journey to find his family.

Like so many Filipinos, Ramon works abroad. So for three days he travelled from Saudi Arabia, where he is a construction worker.

Aerial shots show the true scale of the Typhoon Haiyan destruction

"I am praying that my family is OK. But still, I am ...." he stops. It all seems too much.

We board the ferry for the two-hour crossing to Leyte Island.

It is packed, and with another storm coming, the sea is rough.

Everyone on board must be thinking the same thing: a mixture of hope and dread.

Some families have been forced to take food from damaged shops

Sitting next to me are two young women. They are in their late teens I would guess, and judging by their appearance they are sisters.

They are not talking. They are deep in thought. They seem far away, staring out of the window at the coastline of their battered homeland.

I decide not to break their thoughts by engaging in conversation, so I can only guess why they are making the journey.

It is pretty obvious though. If they are like the other 99% then they too are making the grim journey to find out the fate of their families.

Worried relatives have travelled to Leyte to look for loved ones

Both are clutching their mobile phones, presumably hoping the brightly-coloured handsets might suddenly defy the lack of signal and ring with good news.

As we arrive at the small city of Ormoc, on Leyte Island, we start to get a sense of the scale of devastation.

The buildings are roofless, the trees that are still standing have been stripped of all their branches. And this is only the beginning of the journey.

It will be many more hours before we get to Ramon's town. "I want everyone to witness what has happened here to my family," he said.

:: To make a donation to the DEC Philippines Crisis Appeal visit www.dec.org.uk, call the 24-hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office or send a cheque.

You can also donate £5 by texting the word SUPPORT to 70000.

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