Typhoon Haiyan: Four media workers dead, six missing

Four radio professionals are now known to have died when Super Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the Philippines last Friday.

Six other media workers – five from radio – are still missing, according to the InterAkyson website.

Most of them were reporting around the Tacloban City area when the storm – known as Yolanda in the Philippines – struck.

Archie Globio and Malou Realino from station DYBR Tacloban lost their lives while covering the disaster along with Ronald Vinas and Allan Medino from DYVL Aksyon Radyo-Tacloban.

Several radio stations went off the air as the typhoon swept across the country.

One report suggest that radio studios in Tacloban filled up with water within seconds because of the strong storm surge.

Another suggested that 128 stations were forced off air around the Philippines when power was cut and radio transmitter towers collapsed.

Several stations have told local media they are now back on the air, some on a part-time basis.

Radio has been instrumental in providing emergency information in the lead-up, throughout and following the disaster.

For more, including blogs from journalists who were reporting from Tacloban, check out the InterAkyson website.

Another report from Philippine Information Agency describes how radio stations coped (or not) during the super typhoon.

Meanwhile NGO First Reponse Radio has sent a five person team to Tacloban along with a suitcase radio station and is now broadcasting to the city on 98.7FM.

The station is airing vital information on how to find clean water, shelter and emergency services, according to the organisation’s Twitter account.

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