Haiyan survivors escape death but face hunger and disease

Foreign and local medical personnel prepare to board a C-130 military plane in Manila yesterday heading to the typhoon devastated city of Tacloban.

DPA/Manila Andrew Pomida stepped out of a military plane in the Philippine capital, wearing only a sleeveless undershirt, shorts and flip-flops that were all borrowed.The 36-year-old teacher and father of two came from the eastern province of Leyte after the devastation of super Typhoon Haiyan, in a desperate trip to buy food, medicines and other supplies to bring back home.Pomida said he and his children survived tsunami-like sea surges by tying themselves with a rope attached to a post and climbing to the second floor of their house in Tacloban City, the capital of Leyte. But nine relatives were among thousands killed in the onslaught of one of the world’s strongest typhoons. “There are so many dead in Tacloban alone,” he said. “What happened was very, very serious. So many people are dead and many more are dying.” “There is no food and medicines. The government is bringing food but it’s not enough,” he added. While government, aid agencies and volunteer groups have mounted a massive relief effort, the staggering havoc caused by Haiyan was straining resources with more than 4mn people affected. Rescue workers face numerous logistics problems after the storm left many roads impassable, dozens of airports damaged, and power and communications knocked out. “We are doing our best to bring help to everyone,” military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Zagala said amid mounting appeals for help from devastated areas. “We will do everything to bring help to you.” Michael Francisco, a 36-year-old welder, said he planned to stay just one night in Manila to buy food, medicines, milk and lighters before going back to Tacloban to search for his 10-year-old daughter and a sister. “My daughter lives with her aunt in a different district and I have not been able to reach them,” he said, after arriving with about 30 others. “The floods were high and there were so many fallen electric posts. “When I return, I will look for my daughter even if there are still floods,” he said. Francisco said looting was widespread in Tacloban because people were hungry. “They broke into stores selling food, medicines, clothes, shoes and towels because we were all wet,” he said. Authorities said 151 people were confirmed killed so far in the disaster that a UN official likened to the 2004 Asian tsunami. But estimates by aid agencies and local officials said thousands had died. Desiree Tejano, 27, fled with 3-year-old daughter, mother and sister from Tacloban to Manila to stay with another sibling. She left her father and another sister behind to guard their damaged two-storey house. “We were afraid to leave our father and sister behind, but we had no choice,” she said. “There is nothing to eat and drink.” Tejano said her family survived by holding onto each other on the second floor of their house. She said she was worried that her daughter would get sick because the stench of the decaying bodies had become overwhelming. “It was like we were hit by a tsunami and a hurricane at the same time,” she said. “With all the bodies littered in the streets and everywhere, the stench of rotting cadavers has enveloped the air. “We are still lucky because none of my loved ones died,” Tejano said. “Most of our neighbours died. Death is everywhere.”