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Utahns with family in the Philippines hope for the best

Posted at 10:12 PM, Nov 10, 2013
and last updated 2013-11-11 00:12:25-05

SALT LAKE CITY – Typhoon Haiyan has killed thousands of people in the Philippines, and on Sunday Utahns with family in that country were concerned for their loved ones.

Emma Argyle said she hasn’t heard from her family members since Wednesday night, and at that time her sister in the Philippines told her the winds were getting stronger and the rain was coming down hard.

“I have a lot of relatives there, my cousins live there... and I'm afraid that they did not make it because it was also one of the areas that was flooded - and even if you have money there though, at this point in time, it's hard to find food to buy because of the flood, everything got soaked,” she said.

Argyle said she finds herself hoping things aren’t as bad as reports make them seem.

“When you hear people saying that the death toll is rising, you're hoping that it's wrong, at least for one time, you're hoping that the news is wrong, that they're not accurate,” she said.

Some other Utahns who were waiting to hear from family members had spoken to them as of Saturday night. Some officials have estimated that as many as 10,000 people have been killed in the Philippines since the storm hit.