U.S. NAVY – ARRIVING !
In the hard-hit city of Tacloban, coordination at the airport has improved, and a road to the city that was cut by the storm has opened up, which should accelerate the distribution of relief supplies, said the officials, who briefed reporters about the American response to the disaster. The spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the administration.”For the first few days, we were fully reliant on the airport for our only hub for getting anything into that town,” said one official. “It was a lot like trying to squeeze an orange through a straw. We are now getting more and bigger straws.”
The first airlift of hygiene kits and plastic sheeting from the U.S. Agency for International Development was distributed Wednesday to help 10,000 families, and another consignment is due to arrive in the capital Manila Thursday. The first shipment of U.S. food aid is expected to be distributed by the U.N. World Food Program in the next day or so.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, Adm. Harry Harris, ordered the activation of the USNS Mercy hospital ship, so that it can begin preparations to go to the Philippines if ordered. The USNS Mercy is in San Diego and could be underway in the next several days, but it would not reach the Philippines until sometime in December. This sounds like a long time but it is probably about as fast as that could happen. The Mercy is not equipped for high speed transit, but designed to provide long term medical support with a full fledged hospital for extended period of times with modern, up to date surgical operating rooms and other diagnostic equipment.
The U.S. military is also helping transport Philippine security forces to enforce a curfew and restore order to the typhoon-hit region, where violence and armed looting has occurred because of lack of basic supplies. The U.S. officials said maintenance of security is the responsibility of the Philippine authorities, and the situation is improving.
Thousands were killed and about 600,000 people displaced by last week’s powerful storm that struck the central Philippines, and many remain hungry, thirsty and sick. The Southeast Asian nation is a U.S. treaty ally, and Washington is providing $20 million in immediate aid and ships and aircraft to help distribute supplies.
President Barack Obama urged American citizens, too, to contribute. He noted some of the areas hit by the storm are the same places where U.S. and Philippine forces worked together to liberate the islands during World War II. “Recovering from one of the strongest storms ever recorded will take years,” Obama said in a statement. “But the strength, resilience and faith of the Filipino people are legendary.”
The first airlift of hygiene kits and plastic sheeting from the U.S. Agency for International Development was distributed Wednesday to help 10,000 families, and another consignment is due to arrive in the capital Manila Thursday. The first shipment of U.S. food aid is expected to be distributed by the U.N. World Food Program in the next day or so.
Much attention in the media is directed towards the hardest hit area of Tacloban City but there is much widespread damage across the Philippine Islands where similar relief efforts are in progress also.
