( CNN ) -- William Talley sits in front of his computer for hours , clicking on every photo he can find online from the wreckage of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines . Stuck 8,000 miles away in Tennessee , he has no other way of searching for his wife and 3-year-old daughter . `` What keeps running through my mind now is my baby calling my name -- 'papa , papa , papa , ' '' he says . Talley , his wife Rose , and their child Wilrose live in Guiuan , the tropical paradise where Typhoon Haiyan made its first landfall . The area was devastated . `` I built a house there last year on an island outside of the city . I imagine everything is gone , '' he says . His imagination may be right . `` It 's total damage -- 100 % damage , '' Guiuan Mayor Christopher Gonzales has said . Almost all of the community 's 50,000 people were left homeless . `` Everything is gone , '' said one resident . Talley is trying everything he can think of to make contact with Rose -- dialing all sorts of numbers in Guiuan , calling friends and contacts elsewhere in the Philippines , and using the online tools designed to help people find loved ones . So far , no luck . `` It hurts . It hurts badly , '' he says . `` I 'm really worried for them . And if something has happened to my wife , the mother of my child , then who 's going to be there to look after my child ? I 'm going to lose contact with my daughter altogether . '' Talley 's anguish is shared by thousands of others across the globe in the wake of Haiyan . With more than 2,000 people declared dead , more than 3,000 injured , and many more struggling without necessities , families around the world are in a state of desperation , praying for the best and fearing the worst . Faces of the storm . But Talley , 40 , has another worry that few others can associate with . He was homeless at one point in his life , and `` grew up on the streets of Los Angeles . '' `` That 's why I 'm so concerned for my child , '' he says . `` I do n't want my child to have to live like I did . '' In a CNN iReport , Talley -- a former firefighter -- asked anyone with a relief effort under way to take him along . `` I want to be there and aid in the relief efforts . Using the skills I possess to help injured , lost , and homeless ; as well as establish communications so that many can be informed of the well-being of their families , who are displaced in outlying areas . I need to be there for my family as well and will do all I can to make sure this happens . '' But even if that were possible , Talley faces another big obstacle : the reason he 's in Tennessee . Talley suffers from ankle and knee injuries , and is awaiting a knee replacement . He 's been in Gallatin , just outside Nashville , for four months , working with his doctor and awaiting surgery . The ankle injury stems from 2008 , when he was working with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs . He was part of its Division of Forestry and Wildland Fire Management . On one windy day , he was cutting down a tree in Whiteriver , Arizona . It fell onto his foot , shattering his ankle . Talley was unable to continue his job . He has received Supplemental Security Income ever since . He met his wife , now 41 , online . He traveled to the Philippines to meet her in person . She grew up poor , on an island where there 's a large coconut plantation . Members of her family were fishermen and farmers . When Talley met Rose , she worked as a cashier . They ended up getting married and combining their first names into one for their daughter , Wilrose . Talley built their small home , about 30 feet by 30 feet , out of concrete and hollow block . Two bedrooms , a bathroom , a kitchen , and a living room . Last year , he crashed his motorcycle and broke his knee -- on the same leg as the ankle injury , his right . Talley last spoke with Rose 11 days ago . `` I told her how much I missed her , and how much I love them and my baby , '' he says . `` It 's terrible . I ca n't focus , '' Talley adds . `` I go to the doctor today and I 'm going to tell him to give me a steroid shot and joint fluid because I know what I 'm going to have to do . I 'm going to have to make my way to the Philippines . ''
William Talley 's wife and child were in Guiuan , where Haiyan made its first landfall . Talley is trying everything he can think of to make contact with Rose , his wife . He has a satellite phone that works well on the island