Northern Mariana Islands Veterans Appeal Claims Get Fast Track

VA accelerates pending Veterans benefits appeals for victims of Super Typhoon Yutu

WASHINGTON — Today the U.S. Department of Veterans (VA) announced that it is prioritizing Veterans benefits appeals, effective Nov. 1, for victims in the Northern Mariana Islands who have been impacted by Super Typhoon Yutu.

VA’s Board of Veterans’ Appeals has determined that the significant effects of Super Typhoon Yutu were sufficient cause for the Board to advance the appeals for the Northern Mariana Islands municipalities determined to be disaster areas by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“During this season of intense weather systems, VA is continually assessing how we can best support our Veterans as they recover from natural disasters,” VA Secretary Wilkie said. “Just as it did with hurricanes Florence and Michael, VA’s Board of Veterans’ Appeals is prioritizing the benefits appeals claims process because it is the right thing to do.”

By regulation, the Board may advance appeals on docket (AOD) by a motion of the chairman if sufficient cause is shown. All Veterans and other appellants with an appeal currently pending before the Board whose addresses of record are in one of the affected municipalities will have their appeal automatically advanced on the Board’s docket.

No action from Veterans or appellants are needed if their addresses are current. The AOD for this storm is expected to last until April 30, 2019, and the Board will reassess the situation after that period has ended. For a comprehensive list of all affected AOD areas, visit: https://www.bva.va.gov/Natural_Disasters.asp.

In addition to Super Typhoon Yutu, VA also concluded that the significant effects of hurricanes Florence and Michael were sufficient cause for the Board to advance the appeals for counties in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia found to be disaster areas by FEMA.

The mission of VA’s Board of Veterans’ Appeals is to conduct hearings and decide disability benefits appeals for Veterans in a timely manner. For more information about the Board, visit www.bva.va.gov/.

TEAM Rubicon Operation Seabird Responds to Philippines after super typhoon

A lot of people ask me where is a good place to donate to. One of the top ones on my list is TEAM RUBICON so if you want to help veterans and want to help the people suffering after the typhoon, donate to them. They are already there!

We’re Launching Operation: Seabird
We’re going up against one of the largest storms ever recorded – Super Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines Friday with massive force. Tomorrow, a team of 15 specially qualified TR volunteers from across the country along with three members from Making Change, a veterans-based relief organization in Norway, will board flights to Manila.

The primary objectives of Operation: Seabird are facilitating search and rescue efforts and providing medical triage for a full-scale field hospital in Tacloban. The field hospital can handle up to 100 patients at a time and will be managed by Mammoth Medical Missions, who’s standing up a surgical team of 17.

We’re in the process of outfitting volunteers with PPE and preparing packs so they remain self-sufficient for several days after arrival. The team will also be transporting medical response kits supplied by Direct Relief. We’ll continue to assemble intel gathered over the last 48 hours and adjust our strategy based on conditions reported from the ground.

This is TR’s first international mission since deploying to Burma to provide medical aid for ethnic Karen refugees in October 2012. Volunteers for Operation: Seabird were vetted and hand-selected based on a number of criteria, including medical and search & rescue certifications, past TR deployment history, and availability. We ask others to consider supporting our response and keep the people of the Philippine Islands in your thoughts as the death toll is feared to be very high.

U.S. military speeds aid to Philippines for Typhoon Haiyan victims

U.S. military speeds aid to Philippines for Typhoon Haiyan victims
Los Angeles Times
Brian Bennett
November 10, 2013

Japan-based U.S. Marines board an aircraft bound for the Philippines, where they are to help with the country's recovery from Typhoon Haiyan.
(Hitoshi Maeshiro / European Pressphoto Agency / November 10, 2013)

WASHINGTON — American military search-and-rescue helicopters, surveillance planes and Marines streamed toward the central Philippines on Sunday to survey the devastation and assist survivors whose homes were washed away by one of the largest Pacific storms on record.

Typhoon Haiyan — called Typhoon Yolanda by Filipinos — may have killed more than 10,000 people, officials said Sunday, as it lashed the island chain with winds over 200 miles per hour and caused widespread flooding.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel directed the U.S. Pacific Command to deploy rescue teams, helicopters for airlifts, logistics officers and cargo planes to assist in the relief efforts.

At the request of the Philippine armed forces, the Navy was flying two P-3 Orion surveillance planes above the islands to help rescuers locate the most severely damaged areas and find survivors.

In a statement released Sunday, President Obama said that he and First Lady Michelle “are deeply saddened by the loss of life and extensive damage done by Super Typhoon Yolanda.”

“I know the incredible resiliency of the Philippine people, and I am confident that the spirit of bayanihan will see you though this tragedy,” Obama said, adopting a term commonly used in the Philippines that means communal cooperation.

On Sunday, some 80 Marines from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade stationed in Okinawa, Japan, boarded two KC-130 cargo planes bound for the Philippines, Col. Brad Bartelt, a Marine Corps spokesman, said in a statement. They were taking supplies and communications equipment.
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Japan Coast Guard Searches for Americans on Jade Princess after Typhoon Jangmi

Search continues for Americans missing at sea after typhoon
By Natasha Lee and Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, October 1, 2008



The Japan Coast Guard is continuing to search for four Americans reported missing Sunday near the Okinawa prefectural island of Ishigaki after their yacht encountered battering winds and crushing waves from Typhoon Jangmi, a Japanese official said Monday.

The four men were sailing from Malaysia to Okinawa aboard the 66-foot yacht Jade Princess on Sunday, when they sent out a radio distress signal at 11:06 a.m., said Takamichi Higa, Japan Coast Guard spokesman in Naha.

Rescue planes spotted the Jade Princess’ emergency locator radio transmitter and debris believed to be part of the yacht about 38 miles northwest from where the initial distress signal originated, Higa said.

The Japan Coast Guard said it had received reports that the yacht may have been equipped with a rescue raft, Higa said.

"The raft has yet to be found," he said. "In finding the raft, we keep our hope, slim as it may be."
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http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57779

Philippines:Ferry With Hundreds Capsizes in Typhoon

Ferry With Hundreds Capsizes in Typhoon
By PAUL ALEXANDER,
AP
Posted: 2008-06-22 12:27:31
Filed Under: World News
MANILA, Philippines (June 22) - Rescuers fought the tail of a typhoon swamping the Philippines to reach a capsized ferry Sunday only to find a mystery — scant signs of the more than 740 passengers and crew.
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