It would feel like betrayal if I didn’t write about the Philippines. At least 1,200 people were killed by Typhoon Haiyan in my mom’s home country this weekend, according to estimations by the Philippine Red Cross. But as officials make their way to remote regions, Alfred Romualdez, mayor of Tacloban, said it’s “entirely possible” that 10,000 people may have died in the province of Leyte. 

To put that in perspective, Hurricane Katrina killed 1,833 people. 

The category 5 typhoon hit Tacloban, the capital of Leyte, the hardest. But the typhoon also affected other central provinces, leaving more than 600,000 people displaced nationally, according to Reuters. 

Magina Fernandez lost her home and business in the storm which is known as “Yolanda” in the Philippines. Fernandez called the conditions “worse than hell.”

“Get international help to come here now — not tomorrow, now,” she said. 

Despite the total devastation of parts of the Philippines, some people are still finding a way to blame the citizens for the deaths caused by this natural disaster.  

“They should have evacuated,” some people commented on reports from various news outlets. This is the same excuse people gave for not having sympathy in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. But just because the citizens in both scenarios were aware that the storm was coming doesn’t mean they deserved to lose their homes, lose loved ones or lose their own lives. 

Furthermore, evacuation in the Philippines is extremely difficult, partly because most Filipinos don’t have cars. It’s even difficult for those who do have cars, as many roads have only one lane. And because the Philippines is made up of islands, driving can only take residents so far — they would have to hop on a boat to another province to get a safe distance from the storm. 

Additionally, many of the homes in the Philippines are not built to sustain storms — especially storms with wind speeds at about 195 mph. 

My mom was born in Iloilo City, Iloilo, which is a little less than 300 miles west of Tacloban. I visited her hometown for the first time in 2007.

My mom has about 24 aunts and uncles. A few are wealthy — they live on beach-front properties and keep their furniture covered in plastic. But most are very poor — they live in huts made of bamboo and earn most of their income operating a small snack shop connected to the hut. Iloilo was not nearly as hurt by Haiyan as was Leyte, and the relatives who we have been able to contact said their families and homes are safe. Their homes looked like they were about to fall apart. Had their homes been in the path of the 75-mph winds and the 40-foot high waves, they would have been destroyed. 

The lack of proper infrastructure combined with the lack of government preparedness made this typhoon much more devastating than it would have been had it hit a well-developed and prepared nation. 

I normally don’t encourage charity donations, as many charities use donations to provide their CEOs with salaries of hundreds of thousands of dollars. But seeing as we are nearly 9,000 miles away from the Philippines and unable to provide direct aid, I encourage you to make a donation to whichever charity you trust. Even if only a small portion of your donation makes it to the Philippines, it will be appreciated. No one deserves to have his or her home, food, family and life taken.