A Filipino woman now living in Castletown faced an agonising six-day wait to hear from her family following the devastating Typhoon Haiyan.
Angie Harris was speaking to her mother on the phone while the storm was gaining strength – when suddenly they were cut off.
It wasn’t until Wednesday morning that her sister managed to call with the news that her family was safe but were in desperate need of food and basic provisions.
Mrs Harris, 40, who moved from the Philippines in 1999 and has lived in the island since 2005, is now raising money for people on the island of Biliran.
Despite being declared a national calamity area by the Philippine government, aid has so far not arrived.
Describing the wait to hear from her family, Mrs Harris said: ‘I was trying to stay positive but I started to panic when I saw pictures of my home town from my friends on Facebook.
‘I didn’t want to look at the newspapers.’
She said it was a huge relief when her sister Edna Honor finally called: ‘That was the only time I cried. For the past few days I was really holding on.’
Along with her husband and two children they survived by crawling to a next door house, made out of concrete.
They have lost their belongings and the roof has been ripped off their home.
They are now living at her parents’ home, along with a number of other families that have lost their homes.
Their house has been damaged by trees falling against it but the roof remains intact.
Mrs Harris said: ‘I managed to talk to her for five minutes.
‘Before the phone cut off she said please, anything you can send to us, food, anything, send now.’
She said food was so scarce that three children were sharing one piece of bread for a meal. Mrs Harris said she and her husband Dave were desperate to raise money to help Biliran, which is about the same size as the Isle of Man.
She said that while help from governments and aid agencies were helping in cities such as Tacloban, it hadn’t reached the outlying areas.
KASAPI, a Philippine organisation in the island, is co-ordinating the donations for Biliran.
You can make a donation by bank transfer to KASAPI’s Isle of Man Bank account using the following details: Sort code 55-91-00, account number 12706779. Alternatively, contact Angie by calling 432022, 493181 or 822050 or email marslya@yahoo.com
At least 600,000 people are thought to have been displaced by the typhoon, one of the most powerful ever to hit land with winds of over 195mph and a storm surge of up to 30ft.
The Manx government has pledged £100,000 in emergency aid funding.
l PokerStars has launched an online appeal in support of the victims of Typhoon Haiyan.
Players are able to donate to the relief effort through the PokerStars client, using funds held in their player accounts.
Players on Full Tilt Poker will be able to do the same soon.
A spokesman said: ‘By creating dummy tournaments into which players register and pay their entry fee, which is then paid to charity instead of a prize pool, we are able to provide a quick and easy way for our customers to make a donation to the appeal.
‘In addition, players can make real money transfers from their online wallet to a specially created “Typhoon Fund”, where every cent is passed on to the appropriate charity.’