Palpable absences in Philippines disaster preparedness: Inquirer

Residents rush to get relief goods at typhoon-hit Surigao del Norte province, southern Philippines on Dec. 24. - AP

MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network): It took a while for Filipinos outside the areas of mass destruction to realise the extent of the misery inflicted by Supertyphoon Odette a week before Christmas.

For days, reportage on what the typhoon had wrought in the Visayas and parts of Mindanao and Luzon could present only snippets of the tragedy; travel to the devastated regions was close to impossible and communication lines had been downed along with homes, buildings, transmission poles, trees.