Philippines army
soldiers and workers load an army truck with bags of rice to be distributed to
typhoon survivors, at Tacloban airport today, November 14, 2013. Photo courtesy:
AFP
The United States said
relief channels were belatedly opening up to the typhoon-ravaged Philippines on
Thursday as President Barack Obama urged Americans to dig deep and other
countries upped their aid.
Transport planes, helicopters,
ships and medics are in operation or coming from an array of countries in the
Asia-Pacific and Europe, with Australia now taking its total aid contribution
to Aus$30 million (US$28 million) and deploying extra defence staff to help
deal with the disaster.
On the ground in the
shattered city of Tacloban and around the central Philippines, survivors are
desperately pleading for the basics of life from food and water to clothes and
medicines -- and security to protect them from mobs pilfering what little aid
is getting through.
US officials said the
aid operation was slowly getting into gear after daunting logistical challenges
posed by shattered ports, roads and communication infrastructure.
The USS George
Washington carrier escorted by two cruisers and a destroyer are steaming
towards America's former Asian possession, and Washington has committed $20
million -- roughly half for food and the rest to prevent diseases six days
after Super Typhoon Haiyan struck.
"The friendship
between our two countries runs deep, and when our friends are in trouble,
America helps," Obama said in a statement.
Culled from AFP
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