This sounds like an absolute disaster. The death toll now stands at well over 1,000, and it hardly makes any international news. After all, it's the Philippines. Who gives a shit! If it had happened in Florida we'd be hearing about it for six months. I'm not clear on why the death toll was so high. They probably have more experience with these storms than anybody in the world. It sounds like a lot of the flooding happened very quickly and at night. Regardless, it was a bad one.