Typhoon Hiayan: "It's Cataclysmic"

12 November 2013, 11:27 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A Sunderland man helping the Red Cross in the Philippines get help to people affected by the typhoon has described the scenes as 'cataclysmic'.

Tim Harding went over to Manilla on Saturday morning with his wife, taking 4 flights to get there because of two diversions in China.

They eventually made it there on Sunday morning and called the British Embassy to offer his services to the British Red Cross and rescue operation.

Describing what he's seen while helping the rescue effort he told Capital:
"It's cataclysmic. Words really cannot describe. Having worked during similar things in my life, this far supersedes anything I've ever seen.

There are things which just cannot be broadcasted.

There's bodies floating down streets, hanging from trees and lining the sides of the roads. There's obviously mass graves being dug now.

Now communications are being restored, the main area that's been affected which is Tacloban, the true pictures of the devastation is only now becoming apparent."

He also told Capital why he was travelling to the Philippines in the first place:
"About 20 years ago I volunteered for work in Philippines when Mount Pinatubo erupted, which caused massive devastation.

In the last week of that I met my wife who was from the Philippines.

Every 2 years we generally come back to the Philippines to see her family and we book our trip about 5 months ago.

Little did we know at the time we'd end up where we are now."