INTERNATIONAL RELIEF: Philippines Typhoon (Update 1)

Monster Storm’s Aftermath

Update Includes new photos.

A powerful typhoon struck the central Philippines Friday (November 8) and thousands of people are believed dead with as many as 600,000 left homeless, officials said.

Philippine soldiers prepare to board a U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J cargo aircraft to support victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan at Villamor Air Base, Manila on Friday (Nov. 11.)
( Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Stephen D. Himes)

Rescue workers struggled to reach ravaged towns and villages in the area Monday (November 11) as they tried to deliver aid to survivors. Quoting an area police chief, Reuters reported an estimated 10,000 people were killed.

The typhoon destroyed countless lives, houses and other buildings and left Tacloban, the capital city on the island of Leyte without power or communication on Sunday (November 10). Residents were running out of food, water and other vital supplies, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Relief operations were hampered because roads, airports and bridges had been destroyed or were covered in wreckage, according to the United Nations.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has directed U.S. Pacific Command to support U.S. Humanitarian relief operations – requested by the Philippine government – in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan.

Initially, those efforts will focus on surface maritime search and rescue operations, transport of relief supplies by helicopter and fixed wing aircraft and airborne search and rescue, the Defense Department announced.

DOD is coordinating relief efforts with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Ambassador in Manila.

“The Department of Defense will continue to monitor the effects of Typhoon Haiyan and stands ready to help our ally recover from the storm,” the Pentagon said.

Approximately 80 U.S. Marines from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade arrive at Manila’s Villamor Air Base, on two KC-130J Super Hercules aircraft to assist the Philippine government deliver humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
( Marine Corps photo by Capt. Joshua Diddams)

The storm made landfall in north Vietnam, near the Chinese border, the BBC reported. The typhoon still carried wind gusts up to 98 miles an hour (157 kilometers per hour) as if arrived close to the Ha Long Bay tourist destination.

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