As Typhoon Haiyan, the year’s most powerful storm on earth, plowed into the Philippines, a church in San Diego held a prayer service for victims impacted by the disaster.
Dozens gathered at the St. Michael Catholic Church located at 2643 Homedale St. in Paradise Hills Thursday evening for a special prayer service dedicated to victims of the super typhoon.
Approximately 90 percent of church members are Filipino-American and many have relatives who live in the Philippines, right in the typhoon target zone.
“[We] pray for healing and comfort for those already suffering and struggling in their lives,” said St. Michael Catholic Church parishioner Luz Montemayor. “Especially a lot of them are living in tents because their homes were demolished.”
Parishioners said they plan to organize a fundraiser for typhoon victims. In fact, they’ve already been raising money for victims of the earthquake that hit the region a few weeks ago.
Now, they plan on pulling together again to help their loved ones overseas.
So far, church members have raised about $4,000 for earthquake victims in the Philippines. They plan to continue adding to that amount to send over as much aid as possible.
Typhoon Haiyan made landfall Wednesday, packing winds of up to 195 mph and threatening thousands of people, forecasters said. The strength of the winds, combined with rain, knocked down power lines and threatened structures.
The category-five storm was expected to remain at "super typhoon intensity" for the next 24 hours, according to forecasters. Already, thousands of villagers have been forced to flee their homes, and forecasters said the storm will likely cause widespread devastation, NBC News reported.
