Spoelstra, Miami Heat send sympathies to Yolanda victims
National Basketball Association Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – The devastation wrought by monster typhoon “Yolanda” has prompted the Miami Heat coach, Filipino-American Erik Spoelstra, to send sympathies to disaster victims.
“On behalf of the Miami HEAT organization, we would like to extend our condolences to the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Philippines. We value the many fans that we have over there, and we will keep them in our thoughts and prayers,” the Heat said in a statement Sunday.
The deadliest natural disaster hit the calamity-prone Philippines Friday, with authorities estimating at least 10,000 dead on one island alone.
Yolanda made landfall in the eastern island of Samar and then cut through the central islands, causing storm surges, strong winds and heavy rain that flattened buildings, toppled trees and electrical poles and washed away houses and cars.
The provincial police chief in Leyte, one of the hardest-hit islands, estimated that 10,000 had died there. In Samar, a disaster management official said 300 had died in one town alone with 2,000 still missing.
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