Harrowing Video of Hurricane Haiyan Washing Away Homes

– at 0:43 in the video all is calm, at 0:44 a huge wave comes in washing all away.

This video shows footage taken at 6am on Friday 8 November as the storm hit Hernani in Eastern Samar. Plan staff member Nickson Gensis took this while sheltering on the 2nd floor of a house less than a few hundred metres from the sea.

“Six of us took refuge on the top floor of a boarding house. Five were praying and I was filming. The others called me to pray with them but I said that I needed to document this.”

“Three of our group were male and we all wore trunks so that we could swim if we needed to. We were so scared. But I thought, ‘if I die, so be it’.”

“It was like a huge tsunami but the water receded quickly afterwards. We ventured downstairs and outside around noon. I took shots of the boarding house we had been in because I was so thankful thank it protected me. At 2pm I started work, travelling to assess the damage to villages supported by Plan. I realised as I was taking notes while talking to people that I was shaking.”

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**Plan emergency teams are on the ground providing aid to children and families affected by Typhoon Haiyan. To support the relief effort, go to: http://planresponds.org/ #PlanResponds**