The UN has launched an appeal for $301m (£190m) to help relief efforts
in typhoon-hit areas of the Philippines.
At least 10,000 people are feared to have been killed by Typhoon
Haiyan, which struck the central Philippines on Friday.
The UN says more than 11 million people are believed to have been
affected by the storm and some 673,000 displaced.
Several countries have deployed ships to help the relief effort, but
bad weather is hampering aid distribution.
The BBC’s Jonathan Head, in the badly-hit city of Tacloban on Leyte
island, says the main road from the airport to the city is clogged
with refugees and debris, and that residents are becoming angry at the
lack of progress and increasing breakdown in security.
Valerie Amos, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs and Emergency Relief, has arrived in Manila to head the aid
operation.
She told the BBC the storm had been far worse than expected, and that
people in the affected regions were “absolutely desperate”.
“They need food, they need water, they need shelter. People need to be
protected,” she said.
Helicopters were also in urgent need to help with assessing the
damage, she said.
Baroness Amos told reporters the UN would work alongside the
Philippine government, and that efforts would focus on “food, health,
sanitation, shelter, debris removal and also protection of the most
vulnerable”.
“I very much hope our donors will be generous,” she said.
The BBC’s Imogen Foulkes, at the UN in Geneva, says the operation will
be one of the most challenging the body has ever mounted.
Survivors are scattered across several of the 7,000 islands which make
up the Philippines, says our correspondent, and many areas have not
yet been reached, so the figures of those in need – and the estimated
death toll of 10,000 – could rise.
Security fears: The UN had already released $25m to address the
immediate needs of survivors. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described
the situation as “heartbreaking”.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino has declared a state of national calamity.
In a statement, he said the two worst affected provinces, Leyte and
Samar, had suffered massive destruction and loss of life.
He authorised the release of emergency relief funds and deployed
troops to affected areas.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC)
has put the official death toll at 1,774, as of early Tuesday morning,
with 2,487 wounded and 82 people listed as missing.
Aid agencies have warned that the security situation is worsening –
our correspondent said food warehouses and grocery shops had been
ransacked, and that people are starting to fear for their safety.
There were also reports that an aid convoy travelling to Tacloban was
attacked and two of the assailants shot dead by troops.
Bodies of typhoon victims are lying in the streets or buried under
rubble. Some have been buried in mass graves.
Tacloban airport has been severely damaged, meaning aid planes were
not able to land for some time. Large crowds have gathered at the
airport hoping to be evacuated, but so far only a small number of
people have been able to board planes.
One woman hoping to be flown out said she had had to leave the body of
her grandson at a temporary morgue in a hotel. Her son and his wife
also died.
“I asked the mortuary to give my son and his wife proper coffins, but
they told me their staff had not reported for work and that some of
them were probably dead as well,” Maria Adelfa Jomerez told the AFP
news agency.
“There are no vehicles to transport them to the cemetery anyway. I
would prefer that they not be buried in a mass grave, but I cannot do
anything about that.”
Another woman, Jemalyn Lamberto, told AFP: “We were told to queue and
not leave our positions. But when a plane arrived, it was every man
for himself.”
“It is impossible to stay here in Tacloban. Everything is ruined. The
dead are starting to stink. There is nothing to eat,” she said.
A spokesman for President Aquino said Tacloban airport and a bridge to
the Leyte island were open, and aid was gradually going in.
“We are not going to leave one person behind, one living person
behind,” the Associated Press quotes him as saying.
“We will help, no matter how difficult, no matter how inaccessible.”
The US is sending its aircraft carrier USS George Washington and other
navy ships to help with the relief work. The UK’s Royal Navy Destroyer
HMS Daring is also making its way from Singapore.
Other countries have also pledged millions of dollars in assistance.
Japan is providing $10m and Australia $9m in humanitarian aid, while
New Zealand has pledged over $1m.
‘Like 2004 tsunami’
Haiyan – named “Yolanda” by Philippine authorities – struck the
coastal provinces of Leyte and Samar on Friday. It was one of the most
powerful storms on record to make landfall.
Authorities had evacuated hundreds of thousands of people before the
typhoon arrived, but many evacuation centres – schools, churches and
government buildings – proved unable to withstand the winds and storm
surges.
Haiyan brought sustained winds of 235km/h (147mph), with gusts of 275
km/h (170 mph) and waves as high as 15m (45ft). In some places, as
much as 400mm (15.75 inches) of rain fell.
The typhoon then headed west, sweeping through six central Philippine
islands and into Vietnam, where state media said at least 13 people
had died.
At least six were also reported killed in southern China, after Haiyan
tore through Hainan province and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region
over the weekend, state media reports.
In the UK, the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) group of 14
charities launched its own appeal on Tuesday.
DEC chairman Salah Saeed compared the destruction in the city of
Tacloban to that seen after the devastating tsunami of 2004.
“There is currently no food, water or electricity. We can only imagine
how much worse the situation will be for families living in towns and
remote villages,” he said. – BBC News
