This is the approach into Tacloban airport. This is where most of the media coverage shown on CNN and Fox News was coming from. The area was completely flattened. Only the first half of the runway was usable due to storm damage.
Evacuees stood in line for days hoping to get flown to Manila. There was very little potable water and no food in the beginning. We would watch people pass out from dehydration and exposure while waiting in line. This is only the very front of the line that stretched for miles. The military was put in place to keep evacuees from rushing the planes. We were not able to shutdown and had to reverse out of our parking spaces though the people would be pelted with debris and have their only shade blown away, the evacuees refused to move for fear of losing their place in line.
Tacloban would get crushed with aircraft. There was no radar coverage and at first only a Philippine controller trying to visually control a 25 mile area. There were commercial and military traffic from multiple countries all converging on the airport at once with a very small parking apron. In this picture you can see one of our company aircraft parked on the runway waiting for one of us to leave so he can get off the active. This was typical and anyone else coming in would be put in a holding stack over the runway until the runway would be cleared for landing. It was amazing no mid-air collisions occurred.
Guiawan was a less heard of location that was completely pounded. The peninsula was a fishing community that was all but wiped off the map. The usable runway was about 3500 feet.
The area was covered in palm trees that were snapped like toothpicks from the wind.
We were authorized to pack evacuees into the aircraft as tight as we could as long as they were seated in order to help as many as possible. The flight to Manila was just over an hour, and though the accommodations were cramped, the people were very appreciative. On one trip my crew managed to put 200 passengers in the back.
Though I missed Thanksgiving with my family and the days were long and often frustrating, I felt this was some of the most worthwhile flying I have ever done. This was a Canadian search and rescue crew we hauled into Tacloban. I actually saw them again as they were being pulled out, their dogs helped saved lives of people who were trapped in the debris.
You missed the holidays and everything, yes you did something you wanted, but even if you didn't want to you'd have no choice. Okay...getting off my platform! 
