Typhoon Haiyan: Thousands more feared dead as new storm approaches Philippines
By South-East Asia correspondent Zoe Daniel, staff, wires Updated Tue 12 Nov 2013, 11:40 AM AEDT
Video 1:42
Southeast Asia correspondent Zoe Daniel reports from Tacloban.
There are fears the death toll in the Philippines from Typhoon Haiyan could rise dramatically as rescue crews reach new areas in their search for survivors.
But relief efforts are struggling to keep pace with the massive need for assistance as survivors try to get by with no shelter, food or clean water.
The country is also bracing for another storm front, with the president declaring an official state of national calamity.
While not on the scale of Typhoon Haiyan, the new system, expected to hit today, will bring more heavy winds and driving rain and will hamper the already massively difficult relief effort.
Officials estimate up to 10,000 people have died in Tacloban City alone, and they believe hundreds of others have been killed elsewhere.
Audio 5:25 Relief effort struggles to keep pace with needs.
The United Nations says the world should "expect the worst" for the final toll.
The vice governor of the Samar region says 400 bodies have been recovered from just one village with another 2,000 missing.
It is the first substantial report from the province, which was the first hit when the typhoon made landfall and has been out of communication since.
It will feed concern about more towns and villages in the province, which have not yet been reached.
A major evacuation effort is underway to allow those who want to leave devastated Tacloban to do so.
Some clean-up has begun but returning water supply and power will take substantial time.
The ABC's South-East Asia correspondent Zoe Daniel says the recovery effort is progressing very slowly.
"Obviously the C130s are flying in boxes of water but it's really not enough for people. No-one has enough water. Everyone that we see asks us for water. It really is impossible to find any in the city.
"Many people who are a very short distance out of Tacloban have not received any help at all. They've been walking to the airport sometimes many hours in each direction to access a bag of rice and some water. Many of the roads or most of the roads are still blocked by debris.
"We saw people yesterday, staff running water out of a stream, which is obviously incredibly concerning considering the number of bodies that have not been picked up. We saw many, many, many, many bodies yesterday and they really are just lying in the streets and in the rubble and there seems to be no concerted effort to collect them at this point."
The aid group World Vision has welcomed the Australian Government's commitment of $10 million towards the Philippines typhoon relief, but says more will be needed.
After an initial commitment of $400,000, the Government yesterday lifted its relief spending and said it would consider providing more if required.
World Vision's Matt Davis says the extent of the devastation makes that likely.
"In this space $10 million is a fantastic commitment and a great start but as we learn more, as we see the genuine impact and how long the rebuild and the recovery is going to take, I think it needs to be an open conversation with the Government and the public of course."
Gallery Typhoon Haiyan slams Philippines
Darwin-based trauma team to provide aid as US, UK send ships
The Australian doctor who will be leading a medical disaster relief team to the Philippines says locals are now facing the dangers of walking in floodwaters.
The team from the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre is expected to arrive in Tacloban City tomorrow with 20 tonnes of medical equipment, including a fully-functional 60-bed hospital.
The Centre's Dr Ian Norton says the Darwin-based team has the advantage of local knowledge about storms.
"We know the effects of cyclones from living and working in the Territory here - fractures, and cuts and puncture wounds, both from during the winds and after, as they try to escape to safety," he said.
Tacloban: City of death
Tacloban's official slogan is "A City of Progress, Beauty and Love", but Typhoon Haiyan has turned that on its head.
"They are walking on flooded streets with things they can't see below the waterline."
In the US, the Pentagon has ordered the aircraft carrier USS George Washington and other American ships to head to the Philippines.
The carrier, which has 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircraft aboard, is expected to be underway later this evening.
On board are sailors and "aircraft designed to perform various functions including disaster relief," the Pentagon said.
"As needed, these ships and aircraft will be able to provide humanitarian assistance, supplies, and medical care in support of the ongoing efforts led by the government and military of the Republic of the Philippines".
The US said on Monday that it was providing $21 million in humanitarian aid as well as additional troops.
Britain is sending a navy warship with equipment to make drinking water from seawater and a military transport aircraft to help relief efforts, prime minister David Cameron said yesterday.
He said HMS Daring would provide humanitarian assistance and flights from its onboard helicopter, while at least one Boeing C-17 military transport aircraft would be allocated to move humanitarian aid to areas that are most in need and hardest to reach.
Security fears raised as president declares state of 'calamity'
President Benigno Aquino's declaration of a state of national calamity will allow for prices to be controlled and state funds to be used to speed up the emergency effort.
Soldiers are in place in areas like Tacloban, to rein in looting, and many hundreds of thousands of people are still without water, food or electricity.
At least a dozen US and Philippines military cargo planes arrived on Monday, with the Philippines air force saying it had flown in about 60,000 kilograms of relief supplies since Saturday.
But the demand is huge and the supplies are not reaching those who need it most.
"People are roaming around the city, looking for food and water," Christopher Pedrosa, a government aid worker, said.
In pictures: Super Typhoon Haiyan
Take a look at the devastation left behind by Haiyan - one of the strongest typhoons ever recorded.
Aid trucks from the airport struggle to enter the city because of the stream of people and vehicles leaving it.
On motorbikes, trucks or by foot, people clog the road to the airport, clutching scarves to their faces to blot out the dust and stench of bodies.
Hundreds have already left on cargo planes to the capital, Manila, or the second-biggest city of Cebu, with many more sleeping rough overnight at the wrecked airport in the hope of boarding flights in the coming days.
Mr Pedrosa said security concerns prevented supplies from being handed out after dark.
"There might be a stampede," he said.
Jewel Ray Marcia, a Philippines army lieutenant, says the situation is volatile.
"People are angry. They are going out of their minds."
'There is nothing left to loot'
There is a degree of neighbourhood justice emerging in Tacloban, with residents blocking the streets with pieces of roofs and houses try to prevent others who are not local getting into their areas.
On Monday, soldiers fired warning shots into the air to stop people stealing fuel from a petrol station, Mr Pedrosa said.
A heavier presence of soldiers and police on the debris-choked streets has stopped most looting, at least for now.
People emptied one warehouse of rice and loaded it onto carts and motorcycles. No police or soldiers stopped them.
A handwritten sign pinned to a makeshift police checkpoint near a looted department store warned of an 8:00pm to 5:00am curfew.
Also cleared out is a bottling factory for beer and soft drinks. In some areas, Coca-Cola handed out free while drinking water was impossible to find.
Officials were warning residents not to drink water from wells, which were likely polluted.
But Mr Predrosa says the main reason looting has abated is that "there is nothing left to loot".
Video 1:39 Aerial footage shows the devastation in the city of Tacloban and resort island of Malapascua.
ABC/Reuters
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