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Quest Means Business
Aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan; Storm Damage; Delivering Aid to Victims; Philippines Aid Mission; US Marines Assist With Relief Effort; Organizing Aid; Dow Finishes Up; China's Economic Reforms
Aired November 11, 2013 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE CLOSING BELL)
RICHARD QUEST, HOST: It is a day of remembrance for those commemorating Veteran's Day and for those dealing with the devastating loss of life in the Philippines. Today is Monday, it is November the 11th.
In our program tonight, we bring you the horror of Haiyan. The Philippines suffers massive damage. We have reports from the region.
We'll talk about the need of aid. Millions of survivors desperate for food, water, and shelter.
And we are live in Manila with reports from the hardest-hit areas and what needs to be done next.
I'm Richard Quest and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Good evening. We begin tonight in the Philippines where we are finding out what a state of national calamity really looks like. Three days since Typhoon Haiyan struck the islands, and millions of people are in desperate need, and aid agencies are struggling to reach them.
The US government has just announced it's providing $20 million in humanitarian assistance to the country. In the worst-hit areas, roads are blocked and lines of communication are down. It is feared 10,000 people died.
In the city of Tacloban, bodies line the roads. Some are covered just haphazardly, others are exposed. Passersby are covering their faces and noses because of the overwhelming stench from the dead.
On the shore, massive ships ran aground in the storm surge, slamming into homes and buildings. And wherever you look, the rubble from destruction is everywhere. Families walk through endless piles of debris, people are increasingly desperate for clean water, food, and supplies, and they search through the wreckage for anything edible or usable.
CNN is covering this story with correspondents across the country. Paula Hancocks and Andrew Stevens are in Tacloban, the hardest-hit in the Philippines. Kristie Lu Stout and Ivan Watson are following developments from Manila, where government officials are coordinating relief efforts. And Anna Coren is in Cebu, where the global relief effort is being mobilized.
We start, though, in the capital in Manila and Kristie Lu Stout is there. Good evening.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Richard, it's 5:00 in the morning here in the Philippines. It'll be daybreak in just about 45 minutes, and that is when the aid flights can resume to hard-hit Tacloban City.
We know that US Marines here, they're on the ground to provide aid, to provide C130 aircraft, and to also make that airport functional on a 24- hour basis by powering it up with lights so that in the future, even at this time, the early hours of the morning, aid can be brought in.
As for the Philippines government response, they have dispatched special forces on the ground to hard-hit Tacloban City. They are also providing aid and maintaining law and order.
As for the survivors, it is, believe it or not, four days since the storm made landfall, local time, 4:00 AM in the morning on Friday, and the situation is getting increasingly desperate. They have been closed off from the rest of the world since then, and they desperately need just basic supplies: food, water, shelter, medicine.
Paula Hancocks, she is there on the ground in part of Tacloban City. She filed this report. And just a warning for you: it is very difficult to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TEXT: Welcome to Tacloban City.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sign refers to a very different time. Now all that greets visitors on the road to Tacloban is devastation.
HANCOCKS (on camera): Three days on since the story itself. There are still bodies by the side of the road. Now, we can't show you the faces of these bodies as it's just too graphic. You can -- you can still see the terror as the wave hit on the faces of these bodies. And they're still here, three days on. Some of them are crudely covered. Others are just open and have blackened skin from the sun.
Now, the officials say that they're looking after the living, which is what you would understand, but they have to get rid of the bodies. This is a health issue for those people living and trying to survive around here. The stench is overpowering, and of course, they have to start considering disease.
This is the Tacloban Convention Center. We're told by the locals that a lot of people came in here to try and protect themselves from the storm. But as you can see, the water reached the second story, and the locals say that anyone that was on the ground floor not expecting this storm surge, simply didn't make it.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Many residents used this school as a shelter from the storm, but the water engulfed it. This resident says a lot of children died in here, only a few managed to survive. No one knows how many lost their lives.
Down the road, a public well is being put to use.
ROSELDA SUMAPIT, TYPHOON VICTIM: Right now, we don't have enough water. Even though we are not sure that it is clean and safe, we still drink it, because we need to survive.
HANCOCKS: We see just two trucks in two hours making their very slow way into the city and the heart of the desperation.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Tacloban, the Philippines.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STOUT: And scenes like that are being repeated all across the disaster zone. According to the government here in the Philippines, they say some 600,000 people are displaced as a result of the super typhoon.
The Red Cross here in the Philippines believes that the number of fatalities is quite possibly around 10,000, and survivors are pleading for help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAGINA FERNANDEZ, VICTIM: Get international help to come here, now. Not tomorrow, now. This is really, really bad. Worse than hell. Worse than hell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: Now, in 45 minutes -- again, that's when it will be daybreak - - that's when the aid flights can resume because there's no power on the ground, there's no power to light up the runways for the aircraft to land and to get the much-needed supplies to the survivors, like her, who are pleading for it to arrive right away. Again, four days since landfall, 4:00 AM local time on Friday. Back to you, Richard.
QUEST: Before we let you go, just talk to me about the storm or the next wave of bad weather that we believe is already on the way.
STOUT: That's right, we're keeping a close eye on this storm system that's been forming southeast of the Philippines that has a very high potential to turn into a tropical storm. And it's actually following the same path of the super typhoon.
Now the risk is this: even if it's an insignificant rain-maker, it has the potential to cause a lot of damage. First of all, you have the 600,000 people displaced. They're basically homeless, they'll be exposed to the elements.
But not only that, the ground is saturated with so much water as a result of this super typhoon, the area is that much more prone to flooding and for landslides. So, very worrying situation. Back to you.
QUEST: Kristie, we thank you for that. Kristie Lu Stout, who's in Manila. We'll talk about the weather and what that is likely to bring later in the program.
But I want to now show you the aid agencies are comparing the impact of Typhoon Haiyan to the Asian tsunami of 2004, and for good reason, because communication remains extremely difficult, and so far, we have reports only from these areas.
As you can see, the storm tore right through the heart of the Philippines. The first place that we want to just look at, of course -- look at this video. This is storm surge damage that took place, 100 percent of structures either lost the roof, sustained major damage, and that's according to the Philippine armed forces. As the storm surge comes in, it literally -- this is not just wind and rain and bad weather, this is a storm surge, the sort of which we saw in the tsunami.
And then you look at Tacloban where, of course, Paula Hancocks was just reporting, a city of 200,000 people, and that basic message couldn't put it any simpler: we need food. Oxfam now tell us that people are puncturing pipes to get water and there is a desperation that's taken place with break-ins and mobs and looting, which is hardly to be surprised, bearing in mind the awfulness of the conditions. A state of emergency has been declared, soldiers are now being deployed.
And on the western side of the Philippines in Bako, just read this tweet: "One mother tells us we have nothing to go back to. We can't fish, it's dark, an there are dead bodies floating in the seas." Bako itself, 80 percent under water.
And according to -- the northern tip of Cebu is utter destruction, according to Oxfam. That's down here, of course. Major needs are water, shelter, food, sanitation, and more rain is on the way.
The European Commission spokeswoman, Helen Kearns, explains the steps in the rescue operations that the international community, along with the Philippine government, must take immediately.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HELEN KEARNS, SPOKESWOMAN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: Commissioner Georgieva, responsible for humanitarian aid and crisis response has made it clear that in the coming days, there are three main priorities.
The first is to restore access to remote areas as quickly as possible. Access means both transportation access and the restoration of telecommunications. The second priority is to deliver humanitarian assistance for people affected as quickly as possible. And the third priority is shelter.
Once clean water and other important resources are getting through, shelter is the key priority as with massive, wide-scale destruction, people have no cover from the elements and nowhere to sleep.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: World Food Program's hub is in Dubai in the UAE. Obviously, that is now in high gear. Our correspondent John Defterios has been to look at the operation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(ALARM SIREN)
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: This is ground zero for relief organizations out of the Middle East. We're at the World Food Program operation in Dubai, one of five around the world. They're taking vital supplies, bundling them here, putting them on trucks, and sending them to Dubai Airport. Already, shipments have landed in Manila.
Bill Campbell is the officer in charge for the Middle East. How do you prepare for such a disaster? Do you always have to have a reserve in case catastrophe hits and you have the first wave go out?
BILL CAMPBELL, OFFICER IN CHARGE, WORLD FOOD PROGRAM: Correct. We always have the day-to-day operational stuff, but then we have a mass reserve of equipment and biscuits that are kept aside for emergencies of this type.
DEFTERIOS: Of course, a first priority is getting food and water out to victims of the typhoon. The food is the form of these high-energy biscuits being shipped by this warehouse here in Dubai. Officials suggest there's enough going out to feed more than a half a million Filipinos.
CAMPBELL: WFP have ten people on the ground already. They'll be setting up program and information bases, and they will trickle the information out to the rest of the WFP hubs, and that will be determining on how much food, supplies enter the country.
DEFTERIOS: One of the huge challenges, of course, is not knowing the scale of the disaster at this time. The World Food Program is earmarking $2 million initially to get shipments out like this for at least two weeks. It does, help, though to be based in a logistics hub like Dubai.
DEFTERIOS (voice-over): There are over 60 direct flights each week from Dubai and neighboring emirate, Abu Dhabi. It's over an eight-hour flight to Manila.
CAMPBELL: this is the largest hub in WFP. Its placement is Dubai for a reason. Apart from seven international airports within several hours of each other, we have one of the biggest seaports in the world just down the road.
DEFTERIOS: Food was the first to go out of this warehouse, but shelter and communications followed immediately. Tents and blankets are on the way, along with 300 kilos of radio communications equipment.
DEFTERIOS (on camera): While the relief supplies continue to go out from here, the Middle East pledges are starting to come in, including $10 million from the UAE government, a recognition, if you will, of the role that Filipinos play in this economy.
John Defterios, CNN, Dubai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Bettina Luescher is the chief spokeswoman for the World Food Program and joins me now here in New York. The size and scale -- now, what is it that you need most?
BETTINA LUESCHER, WORLD FOOD PROGRAM: The biggest challenge is the logistics on the ground. The destruction that you see in those airports, on the streets, because we can't get to the people. The roads have to be cleared. The airport is only functional for military planes. There is aid arriving from all over the world, but to get it to the people, that is the really hard thing.
QUEST: I remember from covering -- and talking about Haiti and all those sort of stories, getting too much in too quickly can be as dangerous for those doing it. There's no point in having planes landing if they can't land safely.
LUESCHER: Exactly. First of all, security is a huge issue. Also, how -- you just need the most basic things. We're bringing in generators so that there's electricity. We're bringing in telecoms and IT equipment so that humanitarian community can communicate with each other.
And then, on the way are the high-energy biscuits, something -- because people cannot cook, these high-energy biscuits are enough to keep a person alive. You need a couple of these packages. And those we have flown in, they're in Manila, but now they need to be airlifted into Tacloban.
QUEST: In this crisis, is money an issue? Or is it -- is there enough money to pay for that which you need?
LUESCHER: Money is always an issue. The World Food Program is voluntarily funded, we totally rely on donations. There's going to be a big appeal on Tuesday from the UN for all of us for international funding.
QUEST: For this --
LUESCHER: For this disaster.
QUEST: What sort of sums are we talking about, because --
LUESCHER: We're talking about tens of millions of dollars will be needed for this.
QUEST: OK. I'm -- I sit in this chair every day and we talk about the billions in fines for banks and we talk about the hundreds of millions --
LUESCHER: I know.
QUEST: -- in bonus payments. You are talking about a pinprick of resources to help in this situation, to put it crudely.
LUESCHER: Yes. And that's always what it is. Whatever you do in a humanitarian crisis, it's a small amount of money compared to some of the other big sums of money that are going around.
What we are doing is we are helping the Philippine people. There are folks like you and I that got stuck in a horrible disaster. Many of the people on the ground were hit by a quake a few weeks ago. And what we're doing is, we're helping the Philippine government and the Philippine military to help their people. Ours is a support role, and it's crucially important that international funding is coming in.
QUEST: And to any viewer who's watching who says yes, but what -- is the -- again, let's be crude about this. Is the money going to be spent properly? Is the money going to go into a transparent --
LUESCHER: Always.
QUEST: -- black hole of corruption --
LUESCHER: No, no, no.
QUEST: You know what people say about these things.
LUESCHER: Yes. It's -- we at the World Food Program and at the United Nations, you can trace pretty much every dime. We're extremely efficient. We make sure and control where our aid supplies are going.
What happens with the money is that in a nutshell, we go shopping. We go shopping and bring in the food and bring it to the people. So, it's clear. We monitor up to the last point where it goes.
QUEST: Finally, briefly, when would you expect to see -- the operation is gearing up, and it's like any tanker, it takes time to gear up, but once it's moving, when would you expect to see sizable amounts of aid arriving in a coordinated fashion?
LUESCHER: In the next few days. Because what you need in a situation like this, you need support of the military, you need those big, gigantic planes. You need a huge operation.
When I covered the tsunami -- I was in the response team for the tsunami -- at a certain point after a few days, there are helicopters taking off every few moments. And that's what the international community is gearing up for.
QUEST: But it takes time.
LUESCHER: It takes time.
QUEST: Right.
LUESCHER: And you have to be patient. You and I are sitting her in New York. Think about how long it took here before aid was arriving here. It's not an easy thing. It is hard to watch.
QUEST: Many thanks for joining us, Bettina. We wish you well.
LUESCHER: Thanks for having me.
QUEST: Now, there are many aid groups already operating in the Philippines. They're providing food, water, emergency supplies, shelter, medical, and so on. It's all on their way, and we have links to the relevant aid groups, cnn.com/impact.
We have vetted them for you. You can be sure any donations will help the people in need. There's no profitable moment tonight. We will show you these details again at the end of the program just so you can be assured.
The aid mission in the Philippines begins. The logistical operation is immense. Emergency workers race to get lifesaving supplies to the areas hit most. The challenges, next. Good evening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: In the Philippines, the authorities are trying to overcome a logistical nightmare. It's all part of the effort the rush the food, water, and aid to the increasingly desperate survivors on the ground.
Now, the military planes packed with supplies are being flown to Tacloban City, one of the hardest-hit areas, but if you look at the pictures, it gives you an idea of the very great difficulty that they will have.
Because at this stage, flights can only land during the day after the monster storm knocked out the airport's radar. And the roads in and around Tacloban remain flooded, and they are clogged with debris.
It's making the job of getting aid there extremely difficult. Not quite impossible, but ultimately challenging. And as we mentioned, the US military has now joined the effort, flying soldiers and equipment into Tacloban. Our correspondent Paula Hancocks, she was at the airport when the American planes arrived.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS: American boots are now on the ground here in Tacloban in the Philippines. US Marines landed earlier Monday to assess both the situation and the needs. Brigadier General Paul Kennedy told his Filipino counterparts that the world has the impression there is complete chaos and looting here and what they should do is assure the world that they have the security situation under control.
PAUL KENNEDY, BRIGADIER GENERAL, US MARINE CORPS: Inside of that, you need trucks, you need things to lift pallets, so we bring in forklifts, we bring in generator sets, we'll bring in lights.
So this runway that you see, which can only be used today during daylight hours, we'll have it available by tomorrow with lights strung up along it. We'll have radars up so we can deconflict and make sure there's no problems with the airspace.
HANCOCKS: And more planes are definitely needed to get more aid into the airport and get it out to those who are desperately in need.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, at Tacloban Airport in the Philippines.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Claire Durham is the logistical manager with the British Red Cross. She's been involved with aid missions, including the response to the Haiti earthquake in 2010. She joins me now. Claire is at CNN London.
What's -- you're an expert in this area. You've just heard what the US forces are saying. From your experience, what is the single most important thing you need to do to get the operation up and running fast?
CLAIRE DURHAM, LOGISTICS MANAGER, BRITISH RED CROSS: What we need and what we have is a logistics team that arrived in Manila yesterday, and they're traveling to Cebu tomorrow, and they will be able to then assess the airport, the ability to get aircraft in. They'll look at alternative ports and airports as well. They'll look for warehousing, and they'll look for transportation to get the goods out to where it needs to be.
So, once they're on the ground and we've got more information about that, we'll then be able to coordinate the flights coming in so that they're able to receive them.
QUEST: You see, viewers watching -- and I suppose myself in more naive moments -- simply say, oh, get on with it! What's taking you all so long? Why don't you just get the stuff there? It can't be that difficult. Put me right, please, Claire.
DURHAM: Thank you, Richard. Yes, that is what people think, and that getting something there is better than nothing. But as we've seen in other disasters, you can end up clogging up the ports and airports with goods that are not needed either because they haven't been prioritized or because people have sent in things that they need.
So, what we need is people on the ground -- and we have people on the ground -- to figure out what is needed. And actually, if you take a little bit of time to go slowly now, we can then get the operation up and running.
QUEST: Right. And with so many organizations, whether it's the British -- whether it's the Red Cross, Oxfam, Christian Aid, US military - - all the organizations that will be arriving, who coordinates it all? Who's responsible for saying you can arrive with that, please you bring that, but no, you can't arrive until tomorrow? Who does that?
DURHAM: So, we have these coordination meetings, they're called cluster meetings. So all the logisticians from agencies will join together, the water and sanitation engineers will join together, and we'll work through together with the other agencies and the other actors on the ground to make sure that we are coordinating and that we are working out how we can together get what's needed to all the people so we're not duplicating effort.
QUEST: And in this environment, what often seems like a very slow initial response, how quickly do you believe there is a very steep recovery curve, if you like, when things get better appreciably?
DURHAM: It will probably -- in the first week or so, once we get the airports up and running -- we saw that in Haiti, we could only accept about seven aircraft a day initially, and within the first week, it was about 150 aircraft.
So, the first week is often a little bit slow as those kinds of things like the lighting and the power and that are set up and infrastructure's brought in. And after that, it becomes much more quick.
QUEST: Claire, one thing is quite clear: this is not just philanthropy, this is logistics. This is good, old-fashioned engineering, logistics, and experience. Do you ever get tired of doing this?
DURHAM: No, I love this. It's what I do. It's what I've trained to do. I know it makes a difference to the -- to what we do on the ground, and it's really important that we get it right. So, I'm very passionate about us getting that right.
QUEST: Claire, we thank you. We'll let you get back to your life's work, and thank you for joining us from London. Claire Durham joining us from CNN in London.
Very quickly to the markets. It might seem almost trite to be talking about these matters after you've been hearing such serious matters. This is the way the Dow finished. It's up 21, it's at a record. Good evening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Now, we turn our attention to the business agenda of the day and how the markets finished. The Dow, as I mentioned, closed at a record despite an otherwise quiet day of trading. It is Veteran's holiday, so the bond markets closed, many of the -- well, all US government offices are closed for Veteran's Day in memory of those who have fallen in war.
Across the Atlantic, European markets posted narrow gains. The CAC 40 -- the CAC Quarante -- led the regions higher. The bourses in London and Frankfurt edged modestly up on a quiet day.
China's economy is on the cusp of huge reforms as leaders of the Communist Party meet to decide the country's economic direction. The closed talks in Beijing started on Saturday and they wrap up on Tuesday. The state news agency Xinhua is reporting the reforms are meant to boost social progress, even if it means slower growth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): China's banking sector is no longer solely seeking robust growth after all these years. Instead, in the next phase of reform, we should focus on how to improve our services and how to better serve the real economy and the general public.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, coming up in a moment, we've shown you the current state of Tacloban. When we return, we'll take a close look at how the city was growing before the typhoon. Good evening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment. This is CNN and here, of course, the news will always come first.
Authorities estimate as many as 10,000 people have been killed in Friday's powerful typhoon, though the official death toll stands at 942. Today, the Philippine president declared a state of national calamity. Dazed survivors are wandering the streets scavenging for food or medicine as relief workers struggle to reach the victims. More than 600,000 people were displaced by the storm.
The UN's nuclear watchdog says it has signed a framework for cooperation with Iran. Over the weekend, there was a breakdown in nuclear talks between Iran and world powers. Britain's foreign secretary says there would be pressure to intensify sanctions on Iran if a deal could not be reached.
A militant leader has been killed in Pakistan. A senior Pakistani official has told CNN the elder son of the founder of the Haqqani network was found with multiple bullet wounds near the capital, Islamabad. The younger Haqqani was believed to be the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban. It is perhaps unfair to say but until the last 48 hours, most had never heard of Tacloban in the Philippines. Now of course we told you it was the hardest-hit areas in the country. Before the storm, it was one of the fastest growing cities. It was highly urbanized, it was attracting investments and it had plans to expand Tacloban's economy. So, that as they say is then, now of course the destruction is plain to see. And whether it was light industry, tourism or the infrastructure or shipping that is crucial to the Philippine economy, Tacloban stands in ruins. CNN's Andrew Stevens was in the city during the typhoon. He documents just how powerful this storm actually was.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
ANDREW STEVENS, ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT AND CO-HOST OF "CNN Newsroom, Live from Hong Kong": This is what the inside of a super typhoon looks like -- 250-kilometer an hour packed winds slamming into a city, a white haze of screaming noise smashing windows, tearing metal, water and flying debris. Just minutes after we finished our live shots telling headquarters that we were moving to safer ground, cameraman Brad Olson shot this in the place we just left.
Male: OK, guys, I think we better wrap it up.
STEVENS: As the destruction there continued, a floor below terrified residents huddled together, finding protection against the flying spray and mind-numbing noise. Some pray for their safety. Hallway (inaudible) in the corridor. It's a relatively secure area I think where we are is a very substantial hotel (inaudible), and we are away from windows. But all around us, you hear the sounds of windows breaking, you hear the sounds of large objects falling, crashing to the floor. And underfoot, it is now just a deluge. And if you look behind me, I don't know if you can see it, the staircase behind me is now basically a waterfall. And then a torrent of black water began pouring into the hotel. The storm surge had begun. Within a few minutes, it was at ground-floor window level. A panicked family now trapped in their room, smashed the window and screamed for help. We managed to get the mother across to safety using a foam mattress and it immediately became clear the cause of her pain -- they're daughter is severely disabled. Storm chaser Josh Morgerman and I want back across to get the terrified girl to safety, and CNN producer Tim Schwarz helped rescue the rest of the family. The waters only rose a little higher. The height of the storm in fact had passed. Two hours later, the winds had lost their lethal strength. Our live position was a ruined shell, but as we walked outside, it was immediately clear that so much of the city had suffered so much more than we had.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: And the conditions in the city have become horrendous over the past 24 hours. Andrew who was just showing us what it was like during the storm, has sent us this dispatch about life for the survivors.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
STEVENS: This is what remains of Tacloban City's International Airport. It's being shattered as you can see by the storm that roared through here four days ago. But it's also a place of hope for many people who are as you see are now sleeping right here, praying that they can get the next flight out to get away from what has happened around and the sheer devastation. But take a look, these are the conditions these people face. People are grabbing a piece of dry floor where they can. There are great gaping holes in the roof here and it has been raining on and off heavily over the past few days.
There's families here with as much belongings as they could salvage from their own homes. Many people here have lost just about everything. They're hoping they can get out and get away from it. One of the biggest problems obviously is a lack of food, a lack of water, there is no power here as you can see. If you look around, it's right around the entire building. You turn around and this is we are as well. You're looking here at the CNN team. We've got a lot more obviously in terms of supplies here. We're being asked to help wherever we can in terms of food and water, and we've bed down also whenever we can. This is going to be our base for a while. We're lucky though. We'll eventually get back to our homes and our families, but for many of these people, their homes and many of their family members, they'll never see again.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: Now the sun is about to rise in the Philippines and the emergency agencies will soon begin another day of trying to get food, water and supplies to victims of the typhoon. Paula Hancocks who has done such outstanding work in reporting this as you heard earlier in the program, Paula is now with us live from Tacloban. Paula, I think the best thing I can do is just ask for you to tell me the situation as you see it at sunrise this morning.
PAULA HANCOCKS, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT FOR CNN INTERNATIONAL BASED IN SOUTH KOREA: Well, Richard, it's been another incredibly miserable evening and night for those victims of this super typhoon. There was torrential rain throughout the night and throughout the early hours of this morning, lasting for hours. And remember, most people here don't have a home anymore. Even if they have the shell of their home, they don't have a roof. So people are sleeping out in the open in awful conditions. So shelter is really an imminent concern for many people. But unfortunately on day four after the storm, we're still concerned about food and water. It's not getting to everybody who needs it. Now I'm here at the airport itself which is really the staging ground for where these supplies are coming in. We have been seeing a number of C130s come in carrying aid although it doesn't start until first light and it stops when it gets dark. But there is a bottleneck as well trying to get the -
QUEST: Right.
HANCOCKS: -- supplies from the airport into the city which is about 15 kilometers away, and to those people who desperately need it. Richard.
QUEST: And this is crucial for us to understand, isn't it? Because it may seem slow to get underway, but there's no point in getting the material there if it can't get there and to people safely.
HANCOCKS: The security situation is pretty much fine at the moment, I mean, there were obviously people at the beginning who were desperate and they were looting grocery stores and they were trying to get into pharmacies to see what medication they could take. And so certainly that was a case at the beginning. It doesn't appear to be the case now. There's more of the security personnel on the ground in Tacloban, and also it's more of an international relief effort now. The U.S. Marines landed yesterday. They're bringing in some heavy lifting equipment, and they're bringing in the basics as well like the trucks and the forklifts. This is what's needed to physically get the food and the water to those who need it.
QUEST: And do you get the feeling, Paula, of an operation that is now really starting to gear up?
HANCOCKS: It's definitely better than it was, as you would expect four days on. The people here have been complaining that it was a slow response, and driving into the city yesterday, on Monday, it was quite surprising to still see bodies by the side of the road three days on at that point, many of them just crudely covered, some not even covered at all. They'd clearly been there for some time, and people, the survivors who are having to live very close to these bodies by the side of the road were asking why they haven't been picked up. They're concerned obviously about the health issues of having these cadavers so close by, and of course there are many -- the animals as well, dogs and pigs that are trapped in the rubble and they're by the side of the road. So this hasn't been done at this point and a lot of people are asking us why it hasn't been done. But not everyone has been reached. It's inevitable, this was an immense storm and the damage was incredible. So obviously, it'll take time. But the smaller roads have not been cleared yet, so many people are not able to be reached. And -
QUEST: We've just lost Paula Hancocks who is in Tacloban, but certainly in the time that we were with her, we got a very good idea of the situation as daylight arrives for Tuesday in the Philippines. Haiyan has moved on to Vietnam and China. If it's moved on there, it is certainly a considerably less force. Samantha Mohr is at the CNN World Weather Center. Samantha, look, it's moved on -- it's a much, much less destructive force. But I believe there are other systems out there of which we need to be aware.
SAMANTHA MOHR, METEOROLOGIST WITH CNN: Yes, this is the tropical season that keeps on giving here in the Western Pacific, Richard, it just keeps on coming. Here's Haiyan -- you're right -- it has weakened considerably. Nothing to worry about now although there were more than a dozen people killed as a result of that. Also, we have the next system you're talking about is a tropical disturbance -- a wave, not a storm yet, although the Joint Typhoon Warning Center is saying there's a good chance that it will become a tropical storm. But in the meantime, it doesn't have a name, but it still can really pack a punch in terms of rainfall here, continuing with that counterclockwise movement around the low, bringing in a lot of moisture as we head into the next 24 hours or so in an area that really doesn't need to see any more rain --
QUEST: OK, all right -
MOHR: -- at all and try to pick up the pieces here.
QUEST: Let me interrupt you there because I just want to be clear on this. This tropical -- whatever you're calling it at the moment -- this tropical incident -
MOHR: A wave, a disturbance.
QUEST: This tropical disturbance -- you're telling quite -- it's going to follow the same path across the Philippines?
MOHR: About the same path. A little further south, Richard, so, Haiyan was a little bit further to the north here of course as it came on shore -- the northeastern quadrant in Tacloban. This is aimed a little more at Mindanao, but still it's a wide swath of moisture here, so definitely enough to cause some flooding and of course, along with these heavy downpours, we'll see lightning and gusty winds at times with these thunderstorms. So, definitely it'll make things difficult for those trying to bring aid or rescue people here across the region. So, still very problematic. This was a storm for the record books. Why was Haiyan so strong? Well, the things that make up these tropical systems, Richard, the -- that warm energy coming in off the water -- the latent heat coming off of the ocean, it was extremely warm. In fact, it formed in some of the hottest ocean water on the planet east of the Philippines at 30 to 32 degrees Celsius and also as it really started to get going, there was very little wind shear. Wind shear is one of those things that tends to tear storms apart and weaken them. There was very little wind shear present, so it just allowed the system to keep on going. And even though it went through eyewall regeneration which typically weakens the storm, it had little effect on the system, and there's a measurement which we call ACE, which is accumulated cyclone energy. It's a measurement of intensity, strength and duration. Believe it or not, Haiyan had a higher ACE than the entire 2013 Atlantic hurricane season. So of all the storms, adding them up together, Haiyan was much, much higher as far as the energy is concerned, Richard.
QUEST: Good grief. Samantha, thank you for putting that into context. It makes it so much easier. One quick question -- I've -- the question of storm surge. We always think of that as relating to earthquakes -- storm surge -- and I know it's super storm Sunday in New York -- there was a storm surge. But this was a storm surge quite like nothing else.
MOHR: Yes, you're absolutely right. In fact we can see it in some of these photographs here. Look at these waterfront structures in Tacloban -- excuse me -- as the water moves on in, it just totally moved these structures aside and just obliterated people's lives here as it just washed over them. Really across some of these peninsulas from one side to the other. Look at this fishing village here. You can see how densely- populated it was. Once that storm surge came over the peninsula, it's totally disappeared from sight, and I know you're asking about why the storm surge was so deep at five meters. Because it had a long time to get going. This was a super typhoon for three days -
QUEST: Right.
MOHR: -- Richard and had plenty of time to push that water inland.
QUEST: Samantha, we thank you. We'll talk more about that tomorrow and you'll keep us up to date. We'll be back after the break. This is "Quest Means Business," it's a Monday. Good evening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Goggle is trying to help people in the Philippines find their loved ones through its so-called Person Finder service. It's an online database designed to connect relatives of missing people with each other who may have information about them. Now, Google launched the same service in 2010 after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, and this is the way it worked. You type the name, you search and it's a person finder. It might seem in many ways a crude way of doing these things, but frankly, when you're desperate and you can't find somebody, then every little bit helps. And as more people use these systems, then of course they become more effective. In the wake of natural disasters, online tools like Person Finder and like Twitters and Facebook could be extremely useful for relief workers to gauge victims' needs. Users flood the site with on-the-ground reports and cries for help. At the same time, a barrage of posts could be confusing and difficult to interpret. My next guest created a technology to sift through this information. Look, you see what I mean -- look at Typhoon Haiyan, and if you look at the hash tag on this or the information, you see these big red circles 'round Europe, around parts of Asia, in the United States west of the east coast and the west coast of South America. But of course, do they tell us anything? And how do you sift through all this information? Patrick Meier is the co- (finder) of MicroMappers.com, director of the social innovation at the Qatar Computing Research Institute, joins me from Doha in Qatar via Skype. How does your technology assist in this sort of crisis?
PATRICK MEIER, FOUNDER, MICROMAPPERS.COM: Thanks for having me. It's -- basically -- (inaudible) big data, right. We're fishing big crisis data -- this vast volume of user-generated content posted on social media in real time. These people turn to social media to communicate you know in crises. So, very particularly what we have is a haystack of information and we have to find those needles -
QUEST: Right.
MEIER: -- as quickly as possible because the overflow of information generated during disasters can be as paralyzing to humanitarian response as the absence of that information -
QUEST: But, what -
MEIER: -- and what MicroMappers allows you to do is apply micro-tasking so that hundreds and thousands of volunteers can go online and tag individual Tweets based on whether they're referring to urgent needs and tagging individual images based on what level of damage those images capture. It helps us make sense of this big data and share those needles -- those lifesaving pieces of information -- with our humanitarian colleagues on the ground.
QUEST: Now, I think you would agree that the use of such data -- this early stage in disasters -- is nascent. We're still learning how and why and the full benefits of it. And in these early days, it can be confusing as well.
MEIER: It can, but at the same time, we've come a long way since Haiti. We're just mentioning Haiti. When we spearheaded our operations -- our digital humanitarian operations Haiti -- and we were completely (inaudible) with the vast amount of social media being posted, and it was complete filter failure. We simply could not keep up. This time around, with MicroMappers, we're able to sift through a quarter of a million Tweets and extract the kind of relevant and credible information that our humanitarian colleagues were so desperate for. Now, that does not mean we've found all the answers to the (inaudible) questions. There are very, very challenging issues moving forward and we're just going to have to address them as we go along. (Inaudible) I'm learning by doing in the humanitarian innovation sites.
QUEST: Patrick, thank you for joining us from Qatar this evening, we appreciate your time. When we come back, some news and technology we're consider some more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Being on the scene and covering a natural disaster for worldwide television obviously is challenging at the best of times. Unpredictable working conditions and a profound lack of sleep as you might expect. Field producer Lonzo Cook gives a semi-(tere) of what's involved.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
LONZO COOK, CNN FIELD PRODUCER: It just started raining here as it does almost every night. As you can see, the roof isn't giving as much protection against the rain in several parts of this terminal. Let me talk you through and show you where -- how -- people have sought shelter passing the night. Frequently the floor here becomes extremely muddy, very uncomfortable. If we go over here, this is where the CNN have our work space -- that's actually quite dry right now because this rain only just started. Over here, we've got Paula Hancocks whose catching a bit of sleep. Happily we've got a couple of cots set up which is improving things we hope for tonight because up to this point, the entire team has been staying at the airport have had this as their bed -- a rather beat up, dirty floor which gets muddy at night. Tried that a bit during the day, but it doesn't really lead to a very restful night's sleep. But compared to what the majority of Filipinos in this coastal area are going through, it's very little hardship indeed.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: Lonzo Cook reporting and as Andrew Stevens reminded us earlier in the program, one of the things that we must never forget, those who cover these stories is we leave and those people behind have to live on with the consequences. Some other stories that you need to know about that happened in the world - - the United Nations' nuclear watchdog will get better access to Iran's nuclear sites according to the Iran signing a pact with the IAEA in Tehran. It comes on the back of talks between world powers and Iran over the weekend. There is frustration after diplomats failed to reach an agreement on the country's controversial nuclear program. CNN's Reza Seyahi has the latest from Tehran.
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Many here in Iran very disappointed that Iran and world powers failed to reach at least some sort of preliminary agreement in the nuclear talks in Geneva over the weekend. Remember it's perhaps the Iranian people who have the most to gain with an agreement because it would probably ease some of these crippling sanctions they've been living with for years. These talks have been behind closed doors with remarkable secrecy, but many here in Iran are of the view that an agreement was not reached because of divisions among the world's powers. Others are accusing France and the French foreign minister playing the role of spoiler. For the past couple of days, many Iranians have lambasted the French foreign minister on his Facebook page. However, Washington seems to have a different narrative. On Monday U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry saying no, there were no divisions among the world powers -- that the world powers had actually drafted an agreement and it was Iran that blocked its signing it. It's an indication of how complicated this process is going to be. Now all eyes shift to November 20th, that's when all sides return to Geneva to try for a third time to reach an agreement. In the meantime, on Monday another important meeting between the head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog the IAEA, Mr. Yukiya Amano and Iranian nuclear officials. Positive developments after that meeting. Both sides signing an agreement on a framework with which Iran and world powers can address some concerns about Iran's nuclear program. Reza Seyahi, CNN Tehran.
QUEST: We'll be back after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: We're in San Francisco on the next "CNN Business Traveller." They're young.
Female: This is my whole life.
QUEST: They're mobile. OK, Glass, nearest Starbucks. And they're the future of business travel.
Male: This is the next generation of hotels.
QUEST: Join me in Silicon Valley learning what millennials like on the road on the next "CNN Business Traveller."
Male: Saturday on CNN.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: Before I leave you tonight, there really isn't much more to be said about the conditions in the Philippines other than the misery, the death, the destruction and of course how you can help. If you'd like to offer your support, you can donate to the Philippine Red Cross. Choose Super Typhoon Yolanda Campaign on its website. There's the World Food Program we showed you earlier -- emergency food and assistance -- their website and if you'd like to support the children suffering, well in the Philippines it's the U.S. fund for UNICEF. You can find all the details of course -- the links to all these sites and more, they are listed at cnn.com/impact. And that's "Quest Means Business." I'm Richard Quest. Because the news never stops, neither do we. I'll see you tomorrow.
END
