Agonising wait for family names to appear on the list of survivors

Norma Senita waited for days to hear from her sister and three cousins in Leyte.

“I checked the list of survivors but couldn’t find their names,” said Ms Senita, a nanny and family driver in Dubai.

Her sister, Milagros, 52, and her two nephews, who are 8 and 16, are from the town of Yapad in Leyte, which bore the brunt of the storm.

Her two cousins are from Tacloban, the worst-hit city along the country’s remote eastern seaboard. Another cousin lives in Palo – also in Leyte– which is near the sea.

Some relatives from Manila had flown to Tacloban City on Wednesday to check for updates.

“I’m so happy they are all OK,” Ms Senita said. “The typhoon destroyed their homes but they managed to stock up on supplies.”

Neighbours who do not have relatives working overseas have had to depend on handouts.

“I’m now collecting some relief goods to send to Leyte,” Ms Senita said. “My 10 friends are helping me fill the boxes.”

One box has been filled with used clothing, canned goods and blankets.

“I’m not doing this for my family but for those who badly need our help,” she said. “I just hope it reaches them.”

In Tacloban, some survivors turned to looting shops and warehouses for food, water and other supplies.

"It hurts me, seeing the huge devastation and the hungry people crying for help," Ms Senita said. "The scale of the destruction is unimaginable."

Ms Senita, 40, has not visited her native Tacloban for 15 years, which she regrets. She has lived in Dubai for seven years and her annual leave is usually spent in Manila.

“My favourite place is the Santo Nino Church, where I was christened,” she said. “It is severely damaged.”

The distinctive pink Roman Catholic Church withstood the typhoon, but was stripped of its roof in the storm.

rruiz@thenational.ae

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

More on Quran memorisation:

How Quran memorisation helps 'train the brain'

Teenage girls recite the Quran flawlessly, despite speaking no Arabic

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme

Priority access to new homes from participating developers
Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
Flexible payment plans from developers
Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates

On Women's Day

Dr Nawal Al-Hosany: Why more women should be on the frontlines of climate action

Shelina Janmohamed: Why shouldn't a spouse be compensated fairly for housework?

Samar Elmnhrawy: How companies in the Middle East can catch up on gender equality

Justin Thomas: Challenge the notion that 'men are from Mars, women are from Venus'

EGYPT SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Ahmed El Shennawy, Mohamed El Shennawy, Mohamed Abou-Gabal, Mahmoud Abdel Rehem "Genesh"
Defenders: Ahmed Elmohamady, Ahmed Hegazi, Omar Gaber, Ali Gazal, Ayman Ahsraf, Mahmoud Hamdy, Baher Elmohamady, Ahmed Ayman Mansour, Mahmoud Alaa, Ahmed Abou-Elfotouh
Midfielders: Walid Soliman, Abdallah El Said, Mohamed Elneny, Tarek Hamed, Mahmoud “Trezeguet” Hassan, Amr Warda, Nabil Emad
Forwards: Ahmed Ali, Mohamed Salah, Marwan Mohsen, Ahmed "Kouka" Hassan.

• Remittance charges will be tackled by blockchain

• UAE's monumental and risky Mars Mission to inspire future generations, says minister

• Could the UAE drive India's economy?

• News has a bright future and the UAE is at the heart of it

• Architecture is over - here's cybertecture

• The National announces Future of News journalism competition

• Round up: Experts share their visions of the world to come

Three tips from La Perle's performers

1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.

2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.

3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.