Dunedin's Philippine community has mobilised in support of its battered homeland.
An appeal fund and missing person information service has been set up by the Dunedin Philippine Club in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan cutting a deadly swathe through the country on Friday.
''So many people have been affected,'' club president Marilou Scott said yesterday.
''Quite a few Dunedin people have family and friends in affected areas, where all the electricity is down and there are no telephones. It's so worrying,'' Mrs Scott said.
''We have started a typhoon appeal and there has been money trickling in since it happened. We want to extend our help first to members in Dunedin whose families have been affected.
''We're also helping if anyone is looking for relatives. It can be very difficult to get hold of relatives in the Philippines, so people have been travelling from non-affected areas to check up on people.''
An estimated 4.5 million people in 36 provinces in the nation of 96 million people are reported to have been affected by Typhoon Haiyan.
''We're very resilient people and we'll just dust ourselves off and get back up again,'' Mrs Scott said.
The Leyte capital of Tacloban and its 220,000 population bore the brunt when Typhoon Haiyan hit the eastern coast on Friday, with settlements up to a kilometre inland being devastated and fears of more than 10,000 deaths.
''Tacloban is a dead city,'' Alicia Howden said yesterday.
The South Island was home to many Philippines expatriates, Christchurch Migrants Centre manager Rex Gibson said.
''There is a large Filipino community in the South Island. There are a lot working in the dairy industry, nursing and in rest-homes.''
DairyNZ people team leader Jane Muir said from Hamilton yesterday it was important for employers to recognise and respond to the fact that Filipino people worldwide were hurting.
There are an estimated 400 New Zealanders living in the Philippines, but there have been no reports of casualties.
• Donations to the Typhoon Haiyan appeal can be made to the Dunedin Philippine Club Inc ANZ Bank account 11-8365-0083044-11.
