Typhoon Haiyan Aid Effort Boost From UK Carrier

A second British Royal Navy warship is being deployed to the Philippines to help with the aid effort following Typhoon Haiyan last Friday.

Speaking during a visit to India, David Cameron said helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious will replace destroyer HMS Daring, which has already been deployed from Singapore.

Its helicopters may be used to assist with the distribution of food and water to survivors stranded in remote locations in the far eastern archipelago state, and its facilities to make water drinkable are likely to be in demand in a country where supplies have been badly disrupted by the typhoon. 

lllustrious has been taking part in war-game operations and is expected to arrive by November 25.

It has 900 crew and seven helicopters on board.

The Prime Minister said the Government has also raised the amount it is giving to the country to over £20m.

HMS Illustrious is a helicopter carrier

There have been reports of widespread hunger and thirst and a mayor of one of the affected areas said he would not be able to maintain law and order unless food arrived soon.

United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos has said aid must reach survivors more quickly and that people had been "let down".

Ms Amos told reporters in Manila: "The situation is dismal. Those who have been able to leave have done so. Many more are trying. People are extremely desperate for help.

"We need to get assistance to them now. They are already saying it has taken too long to arrive. Ensuring a faster delivery is our ... immediate priority."

The US Navy's aircraft carrier the USS George Washington has arrived in the Philippines.

Officials are struggling to cope with the sheer scale of the disaster

It "will go to a position just off the eastern coast of Samar island in order to begin to assess the damage and provide logistical and emergency support to include medical and water supplies," the carrier's commander, Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, said.

Officials are preparing to bury some of the storm's thousands of victims in mass graves in the hope of minimising the spread of disease in typhoon-hit towns.

Meanwhile Philippine Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla has warned that it could take six weeks to restore power to some areas.

There is a lack of fuel in many areas meaning the few trucks on the ground an unable to move aid from airports to cities.

The weather also remains a challenge, with frequent downpours.

Body bags are piling up as preparations are made for mass burials

Justin Forsyth, chief executive of Save The Children, told Sky News his teams in Cebu are facing "huge logistical problems" which are only just beginning to improve.

He said: "The most important thing is not only flying aid in, but staying with these communities over the next weeks and months because they're going to have to pick up, rebuild their homes and livelihoods.

"There's another risk which is that we all respond in the next few days but we don't stay the course."

Thousands of desperate survivors are clamouring to escape Tacloban, where clean drinking water is in short supply and scores of dead bodies lie piled up in bags outside the ruined city hall.

"There are still so many cadavers in so many areas. It's scary," the city's mayor Alfred Romualdez said, adding that retrieval teams were struggling to cope.

He said: "There would be a request from one community to collect five or 10 bodies and when we get there, there are 40.

People queue to charge their mobile phones in Tacloban city

"We need more manpower and more equipment.

"I cannot use a truck to collect cadavers in the morning and then use it to distribute relief goods in the afternoon."  

Mr Romualdez said the plan was to start mass burials in the nearby village of Basper on Thursday, after attempts to lay to rest some of Haiyan's victims were abandoned when gunshots halted a convoy travelling towards a communal grave.

City officials estimate that they have collected 2,000 bodies but insist many more need to be retrieved.

The UN fears that 10,000 people may have died in Tacloban city alone, but President Benigno Aquino has described that figure as "too much". 

Tacloban city administrator Tecson Lim said 70% of the city's 220,000 people are in need of emergency assistance, and that only 70 of the city's 2,700 employees have been showing up for work.

Sky News Correspondent Katie Stallard, watching supplies arrive at an airfield in Cebu City, said: "We are seeing signs that the international relief effort is getting going, but many people will simply not know it is coming."

In Tabontabon, the town's mayor Brendo Gamez told Mark Stone that he feared a breakdown of law and order if aid was delayed.

He said: "We have no food ... if the people of Tabontabon suffer hunger, I don't think I can control them any more."

Some £23m has been raised by the British public for emergency aid, which will go directly to help more than 11 million people affected by Typhoon Haiyan.

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), a group of 14 UK aid organisations, said that while life-saving aid is on the move, agencies are battling to overcome blocked roads, closed ports, an ill-equipped airport and increasing security concerns.

A toy and pair of shorts are hung on a washing line

The disaster-ravaged country has become "increasingly volatile" as people become desperate for food and water, with some resorting to force, the DEC said.

Coree Steadmen, Christian Aid's emergency manager in the Philippines, said: "The devastation here is unimaginable. Aid workers are walking for hours and not seeing a single standing building.

"Most roads are covered with fallen trees and collapsed houses. Where roads are accessible, they are gridlocked with cars fleeing the area.

"Getting aid through is tough, but we are resourceful and we will find a way."

:: To make a donation to the DEC Philippines Crisis Appeal visit www.dec.org.uk, call the 24-hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office or send a cheque.

You can also donate £5 by texting the word SUPPORT to 70000.

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