A FILIPINO woman living in South East Cornwall has spoken of her anguish in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan devastating a large area of the Philippines.

Merlyn McGuire, of Callington, said: 'I am more than 12,000 miles away and I just feel like flying over there. I am so upset.

'I still have a little house 200 miles from the worst-affected area.

'The storm made the Pacific so awful, with up to 40ft waves, that it swept straight through my little village and my home.

'I am hoping to go to the Philippines with my husband in February. I need to see and understand the devastation for myself.'

Merlyn, who says there are seven Filipino families living in the Callington area alone, represents the Caradon area for the Philippine Association.

On Wednesday, she was attending a meeting with the South West region of the association to try to organise fundraising for the emergency.

Merlyn said: 'I have good friends at Tavistock who have been unable to make any contact with their aunt and uncle since the disaster. It is so distressing.'

In support of the emergency appeal, Callington will be holding a fundraising Big Breakfast in the town hall on Saturday, November 23. It will run between 9am and 1pm and will cost £5.

Helping Merlyn with the organisation will be Terry Bolt, who has run a number of Big Breakfasts in the town for other charities.

'The table tennis club at the Methodist church, who always help by running the kitchen, have agreed to be involved, with help from a number of other local people, all keen to do their bit,' said Terry.

'The last time we had a Big Breakfast, we served up 200 meals. I am hoping many residents will come along and support this urgent appeal.'

Merlyn said: 'Just a little bit can make a big difference.'

Meanwhile, Cornish charity ShelterBox is one of the organisations supplying aid to the Philippines.

The death toll is feared to be many thousands, and hundreds of thousands have been left homeless. During the most powerful storm ever recorded on land, winds of 195mph wreaked widespread destruction.

ShelterBox already had a response team in the Philippines after of an earthquake in October and further staff were deployed following the typhoon, said the charity's Mark Nicholson.

Response team member Mark Dyer said: 'When we knew the typhoon was coming, we advised people to lower the ShelterBox tents they were sheltering in. Then we went back to help people put these tents back up, so that they will at least have places to live for the next few weeks.'

With a shipment of more than 1,000 ShelterBox tents already in the Philippines, volunteers from all over the county rallied at the charity's Helston HQ to pack a further 200 boxes this week.

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has already raised more than £13m for the Philippines.

Donations can be made online at http://www.dec.org.uk">www.dec.org.uk, by calling 0370 6060 900 or at any bank or post office.