Owns IPhone4S, got "drown" during typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan 11/2013); doesn't work anymore but unit still looks brand new, what to do?

Question

Owns IPhone4S, got "drown" during typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan 11/2013); doesn't work anymore but unit still looks brand new, what to do?

I have an iPhone unit - Iphone 4S, had it since 2012 through a local telecommunications provider (Globe Phils). My unit which has a 16G memory was running on IOS 7. When typhoon Yolanda struck our city (Tacloban) my iPhone 42 was one among the "casualty". I couldn't save it on time when sea water rushed into our house, taking my family by surprise. I was using my iPhone 4s to monitor news and weather update at that time. When the power in our place went out, i unconsciously put the unit on top of our dining table, unaware that the storm surge will reach our place (about 5km from the city proper but about a km from the nearest shoreline). While the water was still chest high i remember my phone and tried searching for it. i used my feet/toes literally to find it on the ground (floor) until i finally reached for it in one of the rooms downstairs. When i finally got hold of it, it was really, really soak in water and mud (yes the water was muddy, learning later on that it was sea water that drown some of the houses in our city).

I sun dried it immediately. I tried having it repaired in Manila after about two weeks since the storm, but the repair center said that it was beyond repair.

My iPhone 4S looks good as new, no scratch whatsoever (i covered it with skin in all the time i was using it until Yolanda came). yet it doesn't work. A said reality.

What should i do with the unit? I have already a new unit iPhone 6+.

Anticipating a prompt reply. Thank you and more power.

Ms. Valuis

Posted on Jan 26, 2015 5:38 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,684 points

Jan 26, 2015 6:00 PM in response to advocacypower

There really isn't much to say. Water damage isn't covered by Apple's warranties.

Total submersion in muddy seawater will cause the components to corrode terribly. It needed to be flushed out before the seawater had any chance to dry - the salts & impurities are what corrode the components. Washing in pure clean water may have helped at the time but 2 years after the event is far too long to expect that to work.

The repair centre are probably correct - it is dead & it would be simper to replace the entire unit, sorry.

Did you have backups in iCloud or iTunes? If those are safe you can restore the data to another device, otherwise that will be unreadable on the device.

Your only option would be to contact your insurance company or possibly the company that you purchased it from but I expect typhoons may not be covered by many insurance policies or warranties.

I hope you are getting back to normal after this terrible event, good luck.

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Answer 2

KiltedTim

Level 10

229,874 points

Jan 26, 2015 6:06 PM in response to advocacypower

Recycle it responsibly or sell it for parts. At least the back glass is still intact, which is probably the only usable part left.

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Answer 3

Jan 27, 2015 2:13 PM in response to Drew Reece

Thank you for all the inputs, appreciate them very much. Yes have some data backed up via iCloud, especially the Contacts, had them sync with my Ipad4 and MacBook Pro. Tacloban is "rising back" more than expected. With great humility we are very thankful to the whole world for helping us get through. I guess Apple helped us too in the field of communications.

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Answer 4

Jan 27, 2015 2:16 PM in response to KiltedTim

Thank you for the reply. I would probably keep the unit, for whatever it is worth in the future, historically i mean - storm surge artifact.

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