MANILA — International humanitarian officials are grappling with the challenges of trying to get help into typhoon-ravaged central Philippines while people on the ground grow more desperate for food, clean water and medicine. The United Nations is appealing for $301 million, saying the greatest needs are food, water, shelter, medicine and clearing up debris.As many as 10,000 people are feared dead. But President Benigno Aquino was quoted on CNN as saying the initial death projection was "too much," and that the final accounting would more likely be around 2,000 to 2,500.
Super Typhoon Haiyan
Source: UN
In Manila Tuesday, U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos said the magnitude of this crisis is “at the very top” of the U.N.’s scale for measuring the impact of emergencies.
“It’s been extremely difficult even to get a sense of what the immediate needs are because it’s been very difficult to get to some of the areas affected," Amos said.
Electricity in some provinces remains completely out. In others it is only partially restored. Communications links are slowly improving but many are still trying to reach loved ones on the phones.
Super Typhoon Haiyan
- 10,000 people feared dead
- At least 9.8 million people affected
- About 660,000 people displaced
- 394,494 people are in evacuation centers
- 1,316 evacuation centers have been established
Source: UN
In Manila Tuesday, U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos said the magnitude of this crisis is “at the very top” of the U.N.’s scale for measuring the impact of emergencies.
“It’s been extremely difficult even to get a sense of what the immediate needs are because it’s been very difficult to get to some of the areas affected," Amos said.
Electricity in some provinces remains completely out. In others it is only partially restored. Communications links are slowly improving but many are still trying to reach loved ones on the phones.
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Typhoon survivors hang signs from their necks as they line up to try to board a C-130 military transport plane in Tacloban, Nov. 12, 2013.
- Typhoon survivors jostle to get a chance to board a C-130 military transport plane in Tacloban, Nov. 12, 2013.
- A Philippine air force officer hands out orange slices to typhoon survivors as they line up to board a C-130 military transport plane in Tacloban city, Nov. 12, 2013.
- Tacloban residents wait for military flights inside the terminal of Tacloban airport, Nov. 12, 2013.
- Typhoon survivors rush to get a chance to board a C-130 military transport plane in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines, Nov. 12, 2013.
- Families take refuge in an indoor basketball stadium at the Tacloban City Convention Center, which has become a homeless shelter after the super typhoon Haiyan battered the area, Nov. 12, 2013.
- Survivors walk in typhoon ravaged Tacloban city, Nov. 12, 2013.
- Survivors fill the streets as they line up to get supplies in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines, Nov. 11, 2013.
- An aerial view of the ruins of houses after the devastation of super Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban city in central Philippines, Nov. 11, 2013.
- An aerial image taken from a Philippine Air Force helicopter shows the devastation of the first landfall by typhoon Haiyan in Guiuan, Eastern Samar province, central Philippines, Nov. 11, 2013.
- Survivors carry bags of rice from a warehouse they stormed to get food after the typhoon, Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines, Nov. 11, 2013.
