Philippines recovering from typhoon

Kendra Nichols in ABC27 WHTM: Walking by makeshift homes on the coast of Tacloban City in the Philippines, it is still very clear that something very horrible happened. There are still empty spaces where homes used to be, debris still litters the ground and water, and every once in a while you can smell a trace of death.

Three months ago Super Typhoon Haiyan, or Yolanda as it's known in the Philippines, slammed into the coastal city, forcing a 13-foot wall of water a half a mile inland. Hundreds of homes were washed away, and in a matter of minutes and thousands were killed.

"There was so much death in so little time, and the signs of the death can only be smelled. You cannot see them anymore," said Bernie Lopez, a World Surgical Foundation documenter.

Lopez visited Tacloban City one month after the storm to document the damage for the World Surgical Foundation. He returned with abc27 News to take another look and act as a guide. "I see very little difference. People are working, there are more houses to live in, but basically it looks the same to me," said Lopez.

When the storm surge hit the city, the water slammed several tanker ships into the town. Three months later, nine of them are still in the city. Locals are asking the government to have them removed, saying they are a constant reminder of the devastation. They also believe there are still bodies under the ships. "The recovery of bodies is still going on 100 days after the typhoon," said Lopez....

Locator map of Tacloban by Mike Gonzalez (TheCoffee), Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license