Typhoon aid slowed by massive devastation

Rescuers are facing blocked roads and damaged airports as they struggle to deliver desperately needed aid to the typhoon-devastated Philippines.

Three days after Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the area, the full scale of the disaster was beginning to become clear with thousands of people killed. In Tacloban, corpses hung from trees and were scattered on pavements. Many were buried in flattened buildings.

“This area has been totally ravaged”, said Sebastien Sujobert, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Tacloban. “Many lives were lost, a huge number of people are missing, and basic services such as drinking water and electricity have been cut off.”

He said both the Philippine Red Cross and the ICRC offices in Tacloban were damaged, forcing staff to relocate temporarily.

Haiyan hit the eastern seaboard of the Philippines on Friday and quickly barrelled across its central islands, packing winds of 147mph that gusted to 170mph, and a storm surge of 20 feet.

It inflicted serious damage to at least six of the archipelago’s more than 7,000 islands, with Leyte, Samar and the northern part of Cebu appearing to bear the brunt of the storm. About four million people were affected by the storm, the national disaster agency said.

Video from Eastern Samar province’s Guiuan township – the first area where the typhoon made landfall – showed a trail of devastation. Many houses were flattened and roads were strewn with debris and uprooted trees. The ABS-CBN video showed several bodies on the street, covered with blankets.

“Even me, I have no house, I have no clothes. I don’t know how I will restart my life, I am so confused,” an unidentified woman said, crying. “I don’t know what happened to us. We are appealing for help. Whoever has a good heart, I appeal to you – please help Guiuan.”

The United Nations said it was sending supplies but reaching the worst hit areas was a challenge.

“Reaching the worst affected areas is very difficult, with limited access due to the damage caused by the typhoon to infrastructure and communications,” said Unicef Philippines Representative Tomoo Hozumi.

Japan said today it would send a 25-member relief team of mostly medical staff to the Philippines to provide aid in the wake of the devastation.

Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said: “We will provide as much support as we can to accommodate the needs of the disaster-hit areas and the Philippine government.”

The government has sent two Foreign Ministry staff to the Philippines to assess the extent of damage. The aid team will comprise doctors, nurses and pharmacists from the Japan Disaster Relief Team.

Meanwhile Haiyan has arrived in northern Vietnam as a tropical storm and is moving towards southern China, where it is expected to weaken to a low depression later. No casualties or major damage have been reported.