Fierce storm lashes Europe; at least 3 dead

December 05, 2013

LONDON (AP) — Britain braced for severe flooding and the worst tidal surge in 60 years after a powerful storm with hurricane-force gusts hit the country Thursday and began moving across Europe.

The storm prompted evacuations, snarled transport and left tens of thousands of homes without electricity. At least three people died in accidents linked to the weather. About 10,000 homes along the eastern English coast were evacuated after Britain's Environment Agency warned the country could face its worst tidal surge in 60 years. The Thames Barrier — a series of huge metal plates that can be raised across the entire river — was being closed late Thursday to protect London from the surge.

Tidal floods — caused as the storm drives huge amounts of seawater toward the land — were expected in Britain, Germany and Scandinavia, together with freezing high winds from Greenland. The Environment Agency put out more than 50 flood warnings for different parts of the U.K., with the risk of flooding stretching into Friday morning.

Rescue teams ferried residents affected by flooding in north Wales to safety by boat, while officials in other areas handed out sandbags and set up emergency shelters. The Defense Ministry said "a small number of personnel" had been drafted in to help local authorities deal with flooding in Norfolk.

The storm first plowed into Scotland overnight, slamming the highlands with gusts up to 142 miles (229 kilometers) per hour. Trains were suspended for much of Thursday, but began to run fitfully later as some routes were cleared of debris.

Transportation troubles, however, spread throughout northwestern Europe. All flights to and from Copenhagen's international airport were halted late Thursday due to the storm, officials said. It was not immediately clear how many passengers were affected or how long the airport — Scandinavia's largest — would stay closed.

Almost all flights to and from Hamburg airport in northern Germany were also canceled, and federal authorities in Germany issued a warning for residents of Hamburg to expect a "very severe tidal flood" at about 6:30 a.m. Friday (0530 GMT; 12:30 a.m. EST). Residents were urged to evacuate low-lying areas of the port and along the Elbe River.

The German Weather Service said the storm front, which was gathering strength as it headed eastward from the Atlantic Ocean off Greenland, would also bring polar air and some snow to Europe. Some schools in the northern Netherlands closed early so children could get home safely to celebrate Sinterklaas — the traditional Dutch version of Christmas — with their families.

Passengers on an easyJet flight from London to Glasgow, Scotland, wound up landing in Manchester after aborted attempts to land in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. As the plane neared Scotland, "suddenly everything started shaking and bumping, we were going up and down, up and down," said passenger Hazel Bedford.

"An awful lot of people were being sick but the plane, it was incredibly quiet. When cabin crew said 'We're going to Manchester,' people started to realize this was serious," she said. An accident west of Edinburgh claimed the life a truck driver and a falling tree killed a man in Nottinghamshire.

Police in western Denmark said a 72-year-old woman died when the van she was in was knocked over in the storm. Forecasters predicted winds gusting up to 87 mph (140 kph) along Germany's North Sea coast.

Ferry operators canceled services to some of Germany's North Sea islands and the country's national railway, Deutsche Bahn, warned of likely disruptions across northern Germany. German authorities reported flooding on the tiny low-lying North Sea islands of Langeness and Hooge near Denmark, the DPA news agency reported. Residents protected their homes with sandbags against the rising waters but Langeness mayor Heike Hinrichsen warned if the seas rose as high as predicted, the "waves of the North Sea will be lapping at the houses."

"Nobody on the islands will be closing their eyes tonight," Langeness resident Fiede Nissen said. "It's already tense." The Netherlands closed water barriers to protect the low-lying country from high tides, including the Oosterscheldekering barrier in the southwestern delta region, which was closed for the first time since 2007.

Water authorities in the northern Dutch province of Friesland were patrolling dikes to make sure any breeches or damages from the high tides were quickly repaired. The dikes were built to withstand water levels 5 meters (nearly 16 1/2 feet) above normal.

Thursday's tide was predicted to be around 3.3 meters (10 feet) higher than normal, the authority said. In Scandinavia, Danish and Norwegian police urged people to stay indoors and avoid the gusts.

AP writers Cassandra Vinograd and Robert Barr in London, David Rising and Frank Jordans in Berlin, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen and Mike Corder in Amsterdam contributed to this story.

Thousands in UK face another day of flooding

December 06, 2013

LONDON (AP) — Hundreds of people in Britain mopped up flooded homes on Friday after a powerful storm that scoured northern Europe with hurricane-force gusts kicked up the biggest tidal surge in 60 years, swamping stretches of shoreline.

The rising seas prompted evacuations along the eastern English coast, with 1,400 properties flooded and at least a half-dozen communities at great risk of exceptionally high tides and large waves. In London, the Thames Barrier — a series of huge metal plates that can be raised across the entire river— closed for a second time in as many days to protect the city from the surge.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said there would be "exceptionally high tides" on Friday and Saturday, though they were not expected to reach Thursday's levels, when water swamped seaside promenades and flooded homes. In the town of Hemsby in eastern England, several houses fell into the sea as waves eroded cliffs.

Britain's Environment Agency said that sea levels late Thursday in some areas exceeded those in a 1953 flood in which hundreds died. But flood defenses and evacuation warnings meant that only two people were killed in storm-related accidents.

Accidents linked to the storm that roared across Europe Thursday have killed at least eight people, from Britain to Sweden, Denmark and Poland. Traffic ground to a halt on icy highways and train service was canceled in large parts of Sweden. Tens of thousands of people lost electricity. Strong winds knocked down the city of Vaxjo's Christmas tree.

Scores of flights were canceled at airports in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany and Poland. More than 1,000 people spent the night at Copenhagen airport where 200 flights were canceled Thursday and about 70 on Friday.

Strong winds threatened a collection of Viking ships recovered from the bottom of a Danish fjord in the 1960s and put on exhibition. Museum workers boarded up the expansive windows of the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Copenhagen amid fears water from the fjord would rise and shatter the glass.

Police in Denmark ordered the evacuation of people in the towns of Frederikssund and Frederiksvaerk, 25 miles (40 miles) northeast of Copenhagen, because of imminent flooding. The towns lie on the Roskilde fjord, which has seen water levels rise noticeably.

Hamburg airport, where almost all flights were canceled late Thursday, was open for business on Friday but cautioned that there would be cancellations because of wind and snow. Trains northward from Hamburg to Denmark and some other destinations were canceled.

Tidal floods that hit Hamburg in the early morning were akin to those that drenched the city in 1962, causing the worst flooding in living memory. But higher and better coastal defenses along the North Sea these days meant the impact of this week's storm on the city was negligible, with no reports of major damage or loss of life.

A further tidal surge is expected to hit Hamburg Friday evening. Soccer club Werder Bremen, whose game Saturday against German champion Bayern Munich had been in doubt, announced on Twitter Friday morning that flood water hadn't topped a levee near its stadium and the match would go ahead.

Meanwhile, wind farms in Germany reaped benefits from the storm. According to European Energy Exchange AG, an energy trading platform, production of wind energy in Germany surged in recent days. At 1 p.m. local time (12 GMT) the country's vast network of on- and offshore wind turbines produced 25,205.8 MW of electricity — the equivalent of 25 nuclear plants and almost 35 percent of the country's total energy output that hour.

Associated Press writers Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Karl A. Ritter in Stockholm, Geir Moulson and in Berlin, Frank Jordans in Berlin and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw contributed to this story.

Nearly week of frigid temperatures for West

By COLLEEN SLEVIN
5th of December 2013, Thursday

DENVER (AP) — The jet stream hunkered to the south Wednesday, promising to bring nearly a week of temperatures that could dip to minus 20 or worse in the northern midsection of the country, and forcing much of the rest of the nation to deal with unexpectedly cool temperatures.

The wintry blast delighted Rocky Mountain ski resorts, some of which surpassed 100 inches of snow for the season on Wednesday. But the cold snap had public-safety officials warning of elevated avalanche risk and frostbite risk to anyone outside.

In Minnesota, the cold forced Salvation Army bell ringers inside and canceled holiday parties, while dense, cold air sunk into Rocky Mountain valleys and kept some lower elevations freezing in the West. A Christmas parade planned for Friday in the Colorado town of Erie was canceled.

The dip in the jet stream is allowing Arctic air to plunge deeper into the United States. To add to the cold weather trouble, AccuWeather senior forecaster Paul Walker said a new storm will likely develop in New Mexico and west Texas on Thursday and head east, bringing ice and potentially power outages.

Extreme cold is nothing new in the Rockies, with temperatures regularly dropping each winter to minus 20 or minus 25 degrees annually. The difference this year is how long the cold snap is expected to last.

National Weather Service meteorologist Dave Bernhardt said the last extended cold period in Montana he could recall was in the winter of 1996.

Low temperatures in Denver were expected to drop just below zero through Friday but remain below 20 through the middle of next week. The storm dumped several inches of snow in Denver, and parts of Colorado's mountains could get up to 3 feet by the end of the day. Heavy overnight snow canceled a men's World Cup downhill training in Beaver Creek because the skiers need a clean, slick surface to practice on.

Snowfall totals could also approach 3 feet in northeastern Minnesota, where the weather has contributed to hundreds of traffic accidents around the state, including at least five fatal crashes since Monday. Two other fatal crashes in Montana and North Dakota were blamed on the weather.

At the Denver Zoo, which was closed due to the weather, the polar bears were playing and lying in the snow and the Mongolian camels seemed friskier than normal, spokeswoman Tiffany Barnhart said. But many other animals remained in the indoor section of their quarters, close to their hay beds. Workers kept the lions occupied with toys and videos of African predators.

"It's a snow day for them too," she said.

The risk of frostbite was high for people doing every day activities, like waiting for a bus, unless they're bundled up. Tyler Elick wore a hat and gloves as he played with his dog, Coconut, in a parking lot downtown.

"It's fun, but my cheeks are frozen, so I may be slurring my words," he said.

Colorado homeless shelters opened extra beds, and Denver Police checked under bridges in search of homeless who may have been in danger.

Laramie, the home of the University of Wyoming, sits in a valley between two mountain ranges and could see temperatures dip to minus 29 Wednesday night and early Thursday. The record low for Dec. 5 at Laramie is 33 below zero, set in 1972.

In Montana, the cold spot will be the northern city of Havre, with low temperatures expected to dip as low as minus 30 between Thursday and Saturday. The city isn't expected to get warmer than minus 6 degrees during that period.

In California's Central Valley, temperatures dropped into the upper 20s overnight into Wednesday, not enough to cause any damage to citrus crops. Citrus farmers, however, are anticipating colder temperatures overnight and Thursday and are continuing to take precautions, said Bob Blakely, of California Citrus Mutual.

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Bob Moen in Cheyenne, Wyo.; Matt Volz in Helena, Mont.; Steven K. Paulson and P. Solomon Banda in Denver; and Gretchen Ehlke in Milwaukee, Wis.

South Africa prepares to welcome world leaders

December 07, 2013

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa is readying itself for the arrival of a flood of world leaders for the memorial service and funeral for Nelson Mandela as thousands of mourners continued to flock to sites around the country Saturday to pay homage to the freedom struggle icon.

At Mandela's house in the Johannesburg neighborhood of Houghton, more than 100 people, black and white, gathered in the morning where they sang liberation songs and homages to Mandela. Children danced to the singing from the swaying crowd as hawkers nearby sold Mandela regalia.

Among those who have already indicated that they will be traveling to South Africa to honor Mandela, who died at his Johannesburg home at the age of 95 Thursday night, are United States President Barack Obama and his two predecessors, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff will also be among the guests.

A week of mourning, with several events planned, has been declared by the government. Sunday has been declared a national day of prayer and reflection, while a national memorial service is scheduled Tuesday to be held at a Johannesburg stadium where Mandela made his last public appearance for the closing ceremony of the 2010 soccer World Cup.

Official memorial services will also be held in all of South Africa's provinces and regions over the next week. Mandela's body will lie in state from Wednesday till Friday at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa's capital.

Mandela's remains will also be paraded through the streets of the capital during those days, the government said Saturday. "Every morning, when the remains leave the mortuary to the lying in state, those routes will be made public," said Neo Momodu, the head of the government's information service.

The state funeral and burial for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate will be held in his rural hometown of Qunu in the Eastern Cape Province Sunday Dec. 15. The state airline, South African Airways, has laid on special charter flights to ferry invited dignitaries to the funeral.

The government has announced that a special sitting of the two houses of parliament will be held on Monday to pay tribute to Mandela, the country's first black and democratically-elected president. Meanwhile, tributes to the former anti-apartheid activist continue to pour in from around the globe.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power since his country's independence from Britain in 1980 and used to support Mandela's ANC party during its struggle against the apartheid regime, paid his first public tribute to the deceased leader Saturday.

Despite himself being accused by critics of increasingly authoritarian rule, Mugabe praised Mandela as a champion of democracy and "an unflinching fighter for justice." "Mr. Nelson Mandela's renowned and illustrious political life will forever remain a beacon of excellence," Zimbabwe's state-run newspaper The Herald quoted Mugabe as saying.

"Not only was he a great champion of the emancipation of the oppressed, but he also was a humble and compassionate leader who showed selfless dedication to the service of his people."

Gracious and tough, Mandela was fun to cover

December 06, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) — The thing about Nelson Mandela was that he made the rest of us want to be almost as noble as he.

Imprisoned for 27 years, the anti-apartheid leader who had declared at his 1964 trial that he was willing to die for his beliefs in human dignity and racial equality emerged from that experience not filled with hatred, but courtly, magnanimous, humble and good-humored.

His very demeanor served as the rebuttal to all those who peddled fear and foretold disaster and bloodshed should black South Africans get the vote and take power in Pretoria. It is easy to forget what a seething cauldron South Africa had become by the early 1990s as part of its white minority struggled to hang on to the three centuries of privilege made possible by apartheid. I remember it vividly while covering the country's democratic transition as AP's southern Africa bureau chief in Johannesburg in the mid-1990s.

Khaki-clad farmers with pistols at their side were setting off bombs and pledging never to submit to majority rule. The townships with their shantytown poverty were ablaze with guns and violence as ANC activists and backers of the government-encouraged and Zulu-dominated Inkatha Freedom Party fought with terrifying ferocity. In Guguletu, outside Cape Town, a young American Fulbright scholar Amy Biehl was chased down and killed by a mob of youths shouting racial taunts of "Kill the farmer." An anti-apartheid Communist leader, Chris Hani, was gunned down and killed by a right-wing Polish immigrant.

The nation felt like a tinderbox, a stage set for a bloodbath. But what Mandela ushered into history instead was his profound regard for the rights of all South Africans to claim a share of the national patrimony. It was a point he boldly made on almost every public occasion, whether to householders in the white and affluent Johannesburg suburb of Houghton or on a stage thrown up at a dilapidated football stadium crammed to the rafters with township dwellers clamoring for economic justice.

Through tedious and patient negotiations over several years after his release from prison, the framework was set for the country's first all-race elections in April 1994, even though almost until the last minute it was not clear that all the conflicting parties would participate. When the day finally dawned cold and clear, South Africans saw themselves as the rainbow nation they really were. More than 22 million people voted, their lines snaking over the verdant green hills, and it was evident to the majority that they were now, at last, full citizens in the land of their birth.

Part of the privilege of being around Nelson Mandela in those days was to see the undiluted joy he spread whenever he entered a township or a small settlement in one of the dusty impoverished homelands set up by apartheid governments to separate black from white South Africans.

As the cars carrying Mandela and his supporters jolted along the rutted dirt tracks, they soon would be joined by school children running alongside as fast as they could, shouting deliriously for "Madiba, Madiba," the clan name that he is affectionately called. The stream of onlookers would coalesce into a river and then a sea of humanity outside whatever banner-draped venue had been chosen for his election rally. Finally, when the cars could move no farther, Mandela with his trusted aides would unfold himself from the vehicle and slowly walk through the people, smiling and waving and occasionally raising his fist in an ANC salute with a different brightly colored and patterned shirt on every day.

Inside there would be dancing, swaying, ululating, cheering and singing of his name, until he spoke in his unmistakable rasping voice, his slow cadence lending gravitas to his message. He could be firm with his followers, upbraiding them like a stern uncle — saying they were embarrassing the cause when they tore down posters of opponents or heckled members of the National Party of F.W. de Klerk, his Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate and (to Mandela) little-loved partner in South Africa's peaceful transition. "People will believe that we are unfit for government," he would warn followers when they showed any signs of hooligan behavior.

He was loyal as well to the Third World and to the Non-Aligned Movement, the countries that had formed the anti-apartheid front. Even when he was firmly embraced by the U.S. government, he would not forsake his old revolutionary allies Yasser Arafat, Moammar Gadhafi or Robert Mugabe — those who had befriended his cause at a time when the world's richer and more powerful countries were still supporting apartheid South Africa.

And he could be brutal with his political opponents. At the single televised debate with de Klerk before the election, Mandela was so scathing verbally, coming on relentlessly like the boxer he once was in his youth, that many viewers felt sorry for the last white leader of South Africa. And Mandela completely flummoxed him when he seized de Klerk's hand for a unifying handshake at the end.

I met Mandela a few times at small group interviews during those years, including on the morning after voting in his historic election ended. After his swearing-in for president on the steps of the rose-hued government building in Pretoria, where an honor guard of South African fighter jets roared overhead in formation trailing different colors to salute to the nation's first democratically chosen leader, Mandela slipped easily into the role of president. He faced a constant round of hosting dignitaries and celebrities, chairing Cabinet meetings, and traveling, leaving many day-to-day affairs to his ministers and to his chosen political heir Thabo Mbeki.

In a meeting for a group of foreign journalists when he was then 77, he recounted all the affairs of state and problems of the country that were keeping him busy, but made clear nevertheless that he was still energetic and still relishing the burden of leading his nation and serving as an icon for Africa and for the cause of truth and reconciliation everywhere.

"At the end of day, I have often felt that I have spent my time very fruitfully," he told us with his typical understatement and a slight twinkle in the eye. Remembering now, and contemplating one man's long and momentous journey into history, I can only agree.

EDITOR'S NOTE

John Daniszewski, AP's senior managing editor for international news, covered Nelson Mandela as anti-apartheid leader, presidential candidate and president in the mid-1990s while AP's bureau chief in Johannesburg.

South Africans mourn, celebrate Mandela

December 06, 2013

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — As the news of Nelson Mandela's death spread across South Africa, residents of the black township of Soweto gathered in the streets near the house where he once lived, singing and dancing to mourn his death and celebrate his colossal life.

The people of South Africa reacted Friday with deep sadness at the loss of a man considered by many to be the father of the nation, while mourners said it was also a time to celebrate the achievements of the anti-apartheid leader who emerged from prison to become South Africa's first black president.

President Jacob Zuma, dressed in black, announced the news of Mandela's death Thursday night on television, saying the 95-year-old known affectionately by his clan name "Madiba" had died "peacefully" at around 8:50 p.m. while in the company of his family.

"He is now resting. He is now at peace," Zuma said. "Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father." The president said all national flags would be lowered to half-mast from Friday until after a state funeral. Many South Africans, having missed the news after going to bed, would awaken to a country without its spiritual and moral leader.

"First sleep in a Mandela-less world," South African journalist Brendan Boyle tweeted. "We're on our own now." In the black of night, several hundred people milled around outside Mandela's home in the leafy Houghton neighborhood of Johannesburg. The mood was lively rather than somber. Some sang and swayed. A man blew on a vuvuzela, the plastic horn widely used at World Cup soccer games in South Africa in 2010. Another marched toward the house and shouted: "Nelson!" People photographed a makeshift shrine of candles, a national flag and bouquets of flowers. A framed portrait of a smiling Mandela was propped against a tree with the caption: "Rest in peace, Madiba."

Mandela had been receiving medical care in the home in past months, where he had been in critical condition. Some residents of Soweto gathered in front of Nelson Mandela's old home in the early hours of the morning to mark his death.

About 40 people formed a circle in the middle of Vilakazi Street and sang songs from the anti-apartheid struggle. Some people were draped in South African flags and the green, yellow and black colors of Mandela's party, the African National Congress.

"We have not seen Mandela in the place where he is, in the place where he is kept," they sang, a lyric that anti-apartheid protesters had sung during Mandela's long incarceration. "We are celebrating his life and all that he did for us," said Terry Mokoena, 47, who had taped the words "Rest In Peace" on his Mandela T-shirt. "I am happy that he is now at peace. He has done so much for us, it would be greedy for us to say that he should do more. Mandela united us — black, white, colored and Indian — he taught us togetherness."

In front of Mandela's old Soweto home, now a tourist attraction, two men made a shrine of flowers and candles. "He came here to Soweto as a lawyer and he led us. When he came out of jail in 1994, after 27 years, he did not come out a bitter man and encourage us to fight. No, he came out with a message of peace," said Mbulelo Radebe, 37.

At Nelson Mandela Square in the upscale Sandton neighborhood of Johannesburg, six people stood at the foot of a six-yard (meter) bronze statue of Mandela, paying homage to the leader. The six were two whites, two blacks and two of Indian descent, representing South Africa's "rainbow nation" that Mandela had fought and sacrificed for.

"For 23 years, I walked a path with this man since he was released," said Sonja Pocock, a white 46-year-old pharmaceutical sales representative. "I'm from the old regime. He's like my grandfather. He is my grandfather."

The blonde sales executive burst into tears. Krezaan Schoeman, a 38-year-old Afrikaner colleague of Pocock's, spoke as her friend went to arrange some red flowers she had laid at the statue's feet. It was past midnight and the square, ringed by restaurants with Christmas lights arrayed on fake trees casting a silvery glow, was mostly empty.

"I admired him. He stood for something, for freedom and equality," Schoeman said. "Even if some say he was a terrorist, he stood for his beliefs. Everybody's got a right to life. It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, black or white. That's what he stood for. And for forgiveness."

Standing nearby with a friend, Valentino More, a black 24-year-old student, said he had heard of Mandela's death on Twitter, then had rushed home to see Zuma make the announcement. He then came to Mandela Square, needing to pay tribute.

"It came as a shock," More said. "It's a big day, actually, because our father just passed." Big gatherings of mourners were expected in coming days as the country prepares a formal farewell for a man who helped guide the country from racial conflict to all-race elections in 1994.

"He transcended race and class in his personal actions, through his warmth and through his willingness to listen and to empathize with others," retired archbishop Desmond Tutu said in a statement. "He taught us that to respect those with whom we are politically or socially or culturally at odds is not a sign of weakness, but a mark of self-respect."

F.W. de Klerk, South Africa's last apartheid-era president, said he and Mandela first met each other in 1989 and concluded they could do business with each other as the country embarked on its long-awaited transition to democratic rule.

"Although we were political opponents — and although our relationship was often stormy — we were always able to come together at critical moments to resolve the many crises that arose during the negotiation process," de Klerk said in a statement.

Human rights advocate George Bizos told eNCA television that Mandela, a longtime friend, never wavered in his dedication to non-racial and democratic ideals. "He was larger than life," Bizos said. "We will not find another like him."

AP reporters Andrew O. Selsky and Andrew Meldrum contributed to this report.

1 month on, progress in Philippine typhoon zone

December 08, 2013

TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) — The government is back at work, and markets are laden with fruits, pork, fish and bread. Shredded trees are sprouting new leaves. Above all, the sounds of a city getting back on its feet fill the air: the roar of trucks hauling debris, the scrape of shovel along pavement, the ping of hammer on nails.

One month since Typhoon Haiyan, signs of progress in this shattered Philippine city are mixed with reminders of the scale of the disaster and the challenges ahead: Bodies are still being uncovered from beneath the debris. Tens of thousands are living amid the ruins of their former lives, underneath shelters made from scavenged materials and handouts.

City administrator Tecson Lim says a sense of "normality" has returned and has begun talking of a silver lining: "The opportunity to transform our city into a global city, a city that is climate change resilient and that can perhaps be a model."

Rebuilding will take at least three years, and success will depend on good governance and access to funds. The Philippines is currently posting impressive economic growth, but corruption is endemic and the country remains desperately poor, with millions living in slums.

National and regional authorities had ample warnings and time to prepare before the storm hit early on the morning of Nov. 8, but evacuation orders were either ignored or not enforced in a region regularly hit by powerful typhoons. Haiyan plowed through Tacloban and other coastal areas, leaving over 5,700 dead and more than 1,700 missing throughout the region. Some 4 million people were displaced.

But one couple in the town had other things on their minds Saturday. Earvin Nierva and Riza Elmundo exchanged vows at a church and then posed for photos in a hard hit area of the city. "This gives hope to people that we can rise up," said Elmundo. Pumping his fist, her new husband said, "Rise Tacloban!"

The storm, one of the strongest to hit land on record, triggered an international response, led by the United States and U.N. agencies. The Philippine government has joined them in paying for food-for-work and cash-for-work emergency employment for thousands who lost their livelihoods. The workers clean up the twisted houses, trees and others debris that still cover large parts of the city and receive about 500 pesos ($11.36) a day.

On Friday, the World Bank approved $500 million in budget support that the Philippine government can use for short-term recovery and reconstruction. It is also providing technical assistance in designing housing, hospitals, schools and public facilities that can withstand super typhoons, strong earthquakes and severe floods.

Lim, the administrator, said a development master plan soon to be completed calls for people living in areas prone to storm surges to be relocated farther inland. He said while some residents might resist moving from their former neighborhoods, many others now were receptive to relocation after surviving the typhoon.

The storm led to a breakdown in government services and there were scenes of chaos as hungry survivors broke into shops, homes and gasoline stations. Lim said 19 of the 26 government agencies in the city were now operating and about 15 percent of the city has electricity.

"Psychologically, there is a sense of normalcy," he said. Thousands are already beginning to rebuild in areas that might well be designated not safe for human habitation. Priscila Villarmenta was cradling a granddaughter while male relatives were fixing metal sheets and plywood to her destroyed home, which was torn apart by one of four cargo ships that were swept into her neighborhood by a tsunami-like storm surge triggered by the storm.

"We are again starting our livelihood and building our house," she said.