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| Survivors walk past a ship that lies on top of damaged homes after it was washed ashore in Tacloban city (AP) |
With the death toll from 'super' typhoon Haiyan now estimated to be well over 10,000, the Philippines government and international aid agencies are engaged in a desperate struggle to get help to increasingly angry victims of what may have been the strongest storm ever to make landfall.
Philippines President Benigno Aquino was forced to walk out of a meeting with local government officials in Tacloban City, where 10,000 people alone are feared to have perished, after furious survivors interrupted it to berate him for the authorities' slow response to the disaster.
Almost every building in Tacloban was flattened on Friday, as raging, tsunami-like floods sent waves as high as seven metres crashing through the streets.
Wind speeds in the city came close to 200mph. One resident described Haiyan's impact as being "like a tornado that lasted for four hours". Local police chief Elmer Soria said the death toll in the city of 220,000 people is at least 10,000.
Dismayed Aquino walks out of Tacloban disaster briefing
November 10, 2013 The Manila Times
President Benigno Aquino 3rd, apparently exasperated with local officials in Tacloban City for the lack typhoon preparedness and response, walked out of a disaster council briefing in Tacloban Sunday.
The President visited Tacloban, believed to be one of the hardest hit by Super
Typhoon Yolanda last Friday.
The President visited Tacloban, believed to be one of the hardest hit by Super
Typhoon Yolanda last Friday.
Aquino was also dismayed with the reports by National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) head Eduardo del Rosario.Del Rosario reported that Tacloban is 95 percent devastated. The President questioned the figures and asked del Rosario to double-check.
The dzMM reported that Aquino appeared annoyed when a local businessman asked him to declare martial law in the city to stop widespread looting. The President said he will look into the proposal considering that it is not in the Constitution.After 10 minutes, the President returned to the briefing, dzMM said.
In an earlier media briefing, the President took a swipe at local officials in Tacloban for being unprepared for the typhoon.
“I hate to say it but it seems it was not very prepared compared to other areas,” he said.
Aquino noted that in most hard-hit areas the casualty count was low.
Aquino noted that in most hard-hit areas the casualty count was low.
He said the local officials will “have to explain” the high number of deaths. “Any casualty is an issue with me,” he said.
The President visited typhoon-ravaged Tacloban and Roxas cities with Cabinet members including Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin , Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson, Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, and Secretary to the Cabinet Jose Rene Almendras.
