Good news amid grief: `Miracle` baby born amid typhoon tragedy in Philippines

Zee Media Bureau/Supriya Jha Tacloban: Even as the scourge of deadly typhoon Haiyan submerged the Tacloban City in cacophony of chaos and devastation, the noises made by a baby girl born at the airport on Monday proved to sweeten the situation as her birth drew applause and cheers. The baby was in good health and named Bea Joy in honour of her grandmother Beatriz who was swept away by the storm. The baby`s mother is a 21-year old Emily Ortega Sagalis who was in an evacuation centre when the storm hit. She had to strenuously swim clinging to a post in order to arrive at the airport where she gave birth to her daughter today. She called the baby a "miracle" as she earlier feared that she and her baby would not be able to survive the monster storm, the reports said. The delivery was assisted by the military and airport medics. "She is my miracle. I had thought I would die with her still inside me when high waves came and took us all away," a report quoted her as saying. Typhoon Haiyan is one of the deadliest storms to have hit Philippines ever and it is feared to have killed over 10, 000 people there. The survivors are going through a harrowing time as rescue and relief operations are being hampered by the destruction unleashed by the storm. The worst hit was Tacloban city, capital of Letye province, which has a population of over 2, 20, 000 people.