Sean Mahoney recalls disaster in the Philippines and is fundraising to help those worst hit
Stuck in a hotel, Sean Mahoney could hear chaos unfolding on the streets. When he finally stepped outside, he was greeted to the sight of a city which had been completely upended.
A well known Darwin man businessman, who witnessed the rise of a devastating typhoon has shared his memories of waking up to chaos on the streets, and his plans now for a fundraiser this week to help those limpacted.
Deadly typhoons ravaged Vietnam and the Philippines this week, destroying entire communities and bringing both respective countries to a halt.
The Philippines have evacuated more than 400,000 since the destruction wreaked havoc, with some isolated villages yet to be reached.
One man who was lucky to escape the most recent natural disaster is Darwin local Sean Mahoney.
The chief executive of the International College of Advanced Education was in Bacolod last week when the skies turned dark.
“It went from a bit murky and a drizzle to suddenly the wind just really whipping up and gale force winds,” he told this masthead.
“Lots of trees fell down, power lines coming down... I was in a hotel so my view was limited but the next day driving around... trees down, cars overturned, smashed rooftops.
“It was pretty devastating.”
Mr Mahoney flew back to Australia shortly before the worst of the typhoon followed.
When he returned, he learned some of his Filipino-Territorians friends were already counting their losses.
“I know people (in Darwin) who have lost family members back home,” he said.
“They’ve lost their houses and their businesses.”
According to Mr Mahoney, some Territorians have already jumped on a flight back to find their loved ones.
“They’ve gone back to help (their families) out wherever they can,” he said.
“I know there’s some fundraising events going on to support communities - that’s a really good thing.”
For some regions, the latest devastation is a double blow.
Cebu, a province of more than 2.4 million people, was still recovering from a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in September in which more than 70 people died.
Mr Mahoney said recovery for the Philippines was particularly difficult to achieve.
“It’s got some modern parts, but it’s also got some very poor and even third-world parts,” he said.
“In those lesser affluent areas, there are millions of people where the infrastructure is really poor and the flooding is a result of the incapacity to develop critical infrastructure.”
Such is the scale of the devastation that Filipino president Ferdinand Marcos Jr declared a state of emergency after one of the typhoons - Kalmaegi - left a trail of dead and missing in the country’s central provinces last week.
Mr Mahoney said he was in talks with members of the Vietnamese and Filipino communities to bring both groups together for a fundraising lunch next Wednesday, 12.30pm at the ICAE campus Nightcliff.
“We’re pretty active in both of those communities as part of our work, so we’re just trying to give something back to those communities,” he said.
On Saturday, the Filipino Australian Association of the NT their its own fundraiser to support their countrymen back home.
Anyone who would like to attend the fundraising lunch or make a donation can contact Mr Mahoney on 0414 415959.
Murder charge five years after NT nurse found dead in backyard
