Search for Missing a Hellish Routine After Typhoon But he's searching for something far more precious - the body of his brother, Winston. For those still looking for loved ones missing since last week's storm, their already torn-apart lives are shot through with a difficult question - How do you move on when there is no body to bury? The search for the missing - 1,179 by official count - has become a hellish daily activity for some. In Lajara's seaside village, residents estimate that about 50 of the 400 people who lived there were killed. About half of the dead are still missing: mothers, fathers, children and friends. Lajara has carried out the routine since both he and his brother were swept from their house by Typhoon Haiyan on Nov. 8. And every day has ended so far with no answers on Winston's fate. Many of the bodies remain tangled in piles of debris, or are lining the road in body bags that seep fetid liquid. Some are believed to have been swept out to sea. After the initial days of chaos, when no aid reached the more than 600,000 people rendered homeless, an international aid effort was gathering steam. He said 107,500 people have received food assistance so far and 11 foreign and 22 domestic medical teams are in operation. The focus of the aid effort is on providing life-saving aid for those who survived, while the search for missing people is lower in the government's priorities. The head of the country's disaster management agency, Eduardo del Rosario, said the coast guard, the navy and civilian volunteers are searching the sea for the dead and the missing. Still, he said, the most urgent need is "ensuring that nobody starves and that food and water are delivered to them." Lajara's neighbor, Neil Engracial, cannot find his mother or nephew, but he has found many other bodies. He points at a bloated corpse lying face down in the muddy debris. Lajara remembers the moment his brother vanished. They were standing alongside each other side by side with relatives and friends before the surge hit. They stared at the rising sea, then turned to survey the neighborhood behind them, trying to figure out where or if they could run. Then the wave rushed in. Lajara, Winston and the others dived into the water, and were swept away from each other. After Lajara's face hit the water, he never saw Winston again.