By Bill Parry
When Typhoon Haiyan smashed into the Philippines Friday, its destruction was felt 8,500 miles away in Woodside, where nearly 13,000 Filipinos make up the largest concentration in the state.
The neighborhood along Roosevelt Avenue between 63rd and 71st streets is known as Little Manila and its groceries, bakeries and shipping companies were abuzz all weekend with workers and customers swapping news of family back home.
At Phil-Am Foods, at 70-02 Roosevelt Ave., owner Emmanuel Castillo left the Philippines last Thursday night. On Friday he was mainly concerned with his worker Silverio Lendero, who had not heard from his extensive family from Samar, a hard-hit town in Lyte Province, with 400 dead and 2,000 missing, according to regional government officials.
After four days, Lendero got through.
“He finally spoke with someone by phone this morning,” said Castillo Monday. “His daughter, his two brothers and three grandchildren are all accounted for — he’s very relieved.”
At Philippine Freight Services Inc., at 69-05 Roosevelt Ave., owners Angelita and Al Arce have been glued to the TV since Friday.
“We watch Filipino cable in the morning and CNN all afternoon,” said Al Arce. “All our family is safely to the north but many of our customers are trying to get back home.”
He added that flights were still going into Manila, but that connecting flights to the islands south of there were all cancelled.
“One of our customers is looking for eight of his siblings. So far he’s only tracked down a sister-in-law,” said Angelita.
The typhoon’s tsunami-like floods and winds, gusting as high as 235 mph, created a catastrophe. At least 10,000 may have died in the city of Tacloban alone, according to the regional police chief Elmer Soria.
In Woodside, St. Sebastian Roman Catholic Church held special masses and prayer services all day Sunday. The church plans to accept cash donations for the relief effort at all masses Saturday and Sunday. St. Sebastian’s is at 39-63 57th St.
The Bayanihan Filipino Community Center, at 40-21 69th St., held a candlelight vigil and a community discussion Wednesday night and posted a fund-raising link on its Facebook page and nafconusa.org is the website for The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, a network that runs the community center.
NAFC coordinator Anne Beryl Naguiti said, “Once we got over the initial shock of the enormity of the damage, we got down to the business of taking care of our wounded and start the rebuilding process. She added that her group hoped to raise $10,000 but passed the $50,000 mark by Tuesday.
“We’ll be deploying health care volunteers to Samar and Leyte to help with medical relief for two weeks,” she said. “All the cash we raise bypasses the government and goes directly where it’s needed through our network.”
At Payag Restaurant, at 51-34 Roosevelt Ave., owner Peter Obac had been raising money for the victims of an earthquake in the central Philippines that registered a 7.1 on the Richter Scale Oct. 15.
“We’re going to expand that fund-raising effort to include typhoon relief,” said Obac.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
