Delawareans of Filipino descent are waiting to hear from their families and friends after a Super Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the center of the island nation.
75-year old Nicasio Ugarte, who lives in Bear, Delaware, told the Wilmington News Journal that he had not been able to have any direct contact with those in the Philipines.
Officials have estimated that the Friday typhoon may have killed ten thousand or more people with hundreds of thousands without shelter.
Emilia Rana, president of the Filipino-American Association of Delaware, said that a fundraising effort to help victims of an earlier earthquake has been shifted to deal with the aftermath of the typhoon.
Meanwhile, Dodjie Allarey, who lives in Newark, says he has had no contact with his family.
He told the News Journal that with the increase in the number of typhoons in recent years he believes they have been caused by environmental changes.
The typhoon has sparked discussion on whether such storms as the typhoon and last year’s Superstorm Sandy are the result of global climate change.
