The storm may be over now, but the Philippines remain in a crisis situation. Haiyan–the most powerful typhoon to ever make landfall–has devastated the area; according to the last count, the death toll has reached over 3600, and 2 million have been left homeless.
Now, approximately two weeks later, international aid has trickled into the area. Helicopters from the USS George Washington warship have been dropping food and water into Tacloban, one of the hardest hit cities, and the US alone has pledged $20 million in aid. The UK’s HMS Daring has also docked in the Philippines, off the islands of Cebu, as part of their emergency response program. Like the US, they have focused on key cities such as Tacloban but also spent the past few days using helicopters to survey smaller islands. Additional countries sending aid are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Israel, and Australia. However, the nation is still in a critical situation; help has been focused on larger areas, to the detriment of further flung communities.
The fishing town Tanauan only started receiving aid Friday, after residents had been forced to survive on biscuits and dispose of dead bodies on their own for days, while residents of the remote island of Bantayan claim they have not received any international aid at all.
The sanitary conditions in the Philippines too are catastrophic. Decomposing bodies, still awaiting mass burial, line the streets, and the water system has been completely destroyed. With most sources contaminated, doctors in the World Health Organization (WHO) fear outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid in post-disaster conditions. While no cases have been reported yet, Dr. Julie Hall, the WHO’s representative in Manila, states that it could be because of lack of communication with affected areas.
Medical teams are also on the lookout for outbreaks of diarrheal disease, which can cause extreme dehydration and death and tend to begin around ten days after disasters like this while aid teams are focusing on getting clean water supplies up and running. Next week, the WHO will attempt to implement a mass vaccination program for the many Filipino unvaccinated against measles and polio.
The national government’s own efforts, though weak and disorganized at first, have begun to improve. On Tuesday, President Benigno Aquino announced a plan to maximize relief efforts. By dividing the central Visayas Islands into various blocs, he hopes to distribute aid more evenly. Lieutenant General Roy Deveraturda, commander of the Visayas, stated, “We’re planning to ask the British royal navy to concentrate on the western Visayas region to assess and deliver food, water and supplies to smaller islands … We already have the Americans in Samar and Leyte and Israeli doctors and relief teams in northern tip of Cebu.”
As of Tuesday, the government of the Philippines stated that 24,770 personnel, 104 ships and boats, and 163 aircraft have been deployed, with 88 medical teams–43 foreign and 45 local– spread out across the region. While efforts have most certainly begun, the relief operation will most likely take several months to complete.
