“海燕”過境 菲律賓救災壓力重重

“An enormous four-metre storm surge swept into the coast, crushed all of these buildings”, reports Rupert Wingfield-Hayes

The authorities in the Philippines are struggling to bring relief to some of the areas worst affected by Typhoon Haiyan, one of the deadliest storms ever to hit the country.

Up to 10,000 are said to have died in Tacloban city and hundreds elsewhere. Hundreds of thousands are displaced.

The typhoon flattened homes, schools and an airport in Tacloban.

Relief workers are yet to reach some towns and villages cut off since the storm.

In many areas there is no clean water, no electricity and very little food.

Thousands of troops have been deployed to the disaster zones and military cargo planes are flying in supplies. However, rescuers are hampered by debris and damaged roads.

Pope Francis pleaded for aid for the victims in the mostly Catholic country, saying: "Sadly, there are many, many victims and the damage is huge. Let's try to provide concrete help."

US President Barack Obama issued a message saying he was "deeply saddened by the loss of life and extensive damage" and praising the "incredible resiliency of the Philippine people".

Typhoon Haiyan has now made landfall in Vietnam, near the tourist destination of Ha Long Bay, but as a much reduced Category One, with sustained winds of up to 140 km/h (85mph).

Some 600,000 people were evacuated in northern provinces.

'Not enough manpower'

The relief efforts in the Philippines are being focused on the eastern province of Leyte and its capital Tacloban.

But officials in the city said they were struggling to distribute aid, looting was widespread and order was proving difficult to enforce.

In some areas, the dead are being buried in mass graves.

Houses have been flattened by the massive storm surge that accompanied Typhoon Haiyan.

"There is looting in the malls and large supermarkets. They are taking everything, even appliances like TV sets. These will be traded later on for food," said Tacloban city administrator Tecson John Lim.

"We don't have enough manpower. We have 2,000 employees but only about 100 are reporting for work. Everyone is attending to their families."

President Benigno Aquino, who has visited Tacloban, pledged to send 300 police and soldiers to "bring back peace and order".

But local residents fear for their safety.

"Tacloban is totally destroyed. Some people are losing their minds from hunger or from losing their families," high school teacher Andrew Pomeda told AFP news agency.

"People are becoming violent. They are looting business establishments, the malls, just to find food, rice and milk... I am afraid that in one week, people will be killing from hunger."

The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports that the scene in Tacloban is one of utter devastation.

He says hundreds of people are at the airport, itself badly damaged, trying to get on a flight out of the city.

Philippine Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said the scale of the relief operation that was now required was overwhelming, with some places described as a wasteland of mud and debris.

"From a helicopter, you can see the extent of devastation. From the shore and moving a kilometre inland, there are no structures standing. It was like a tsunami," he told Reuters.

A UN official who arrived in Tacloban on Saturday, Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, said he was told there had been a 3m (10ft) water surge through the city, in places up to 10m.

Meanwhile Leo Dacaynos, an official in Eastern Samar province, told local radio 300 people had been found dead in a single town, Basey, with another 2,000 missing and many injured.

Communication is still limited in many areas.

In Guiuan, a town of 40,000 people near where the typhoon made landfall, television footage showed flattened houses and roads strewn with debris.

One woman told the ABS-CBN channel: "I have no house, I have no clothes. I don't know how I will restart my life... I don't know what happened to us. We are appealing for help. Whoever has a good heart, I appeal to you - please help Guiuan."

The town of Baco, in Oriental Mindoro province, to the north-west, is said to be 80% under water.

The latest report from the Philippines' Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council confirmed 229 deaths as of 11:00 GMT on Sunday. It said almost 630,000 people had been reported displaced.

The Philippines has been offered aid from overseas:

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said the US was delivering helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and search and rescue equipment on request

The European Commission released 3m euros ($4m; £2.5m) in emergency funds and is sending a team of humanitarian experts

The UK Rapid Response Facility is to provide £5m ($8m) in aid and a £600,000 shipment of emergency equipment. A team of four experts is already in the disaster zone

The UN is to provide tents, food and relief supplies

Typhoon Haiyan - one of the most powerful storms on record to make landfall - swept through six central Philippine islands on Friday.

It brought sustained winds of 235km/h (147mph), with gusts of 275 km/h (170 mph), with waves as high as 15m (45ft), bringing up to 400mm (15.75 inches) of rain in places.綜合外國媒體11月11日報道，菲律賓因遭遇超強颱風“海燕”遇難人數飆升，當地面臨艱鉅的救災壓力。該國總統阿基諾三世10日前往災區視察，他考慮實施戒嚴或緊急狀態令。

***形勢嚴峻

菲律賓內政部長羅克斯稱，目前需要大量的人力物力投入救援。“從直升機上，可以看到整個受災區域的範圍，從海岸到附近的島嶼，全部都是光禿禿的，所有建築物都被摧毀了。這更像是一場海嘯，而不是一場颱風。”

與此同時，菲律賓東部薩馬省官員利奧·達卡諾斯透露，僅在該省一個小鎮上，就有300人遇難，另有2000人失蹤、成千上萬人受傷。許多地區的通訊仍然受限。

而在臺風登陸地點附近的基萬鎮，電視畫面顯示，當地的房屋都被夷爲平地、道路損毀破爛不堪。“我沒有房子、沒有衣服。我不知道如何開始新生活……”當地居民對現狀感到絕望，“我不知道這是怎麼了，我們需要幫助。好心人，求你幫幫我，求你幫幫基萬。”

***交通受阻

根據菲律賓國家減災委10日晚發佈的最新災情統計，颱風“海燕”在菲律賓已造成229人死亡、近63萬人流離失所。不過，西方媒體認爲，實際遇難人數遠遠大於菲政府公佈的數據，僅在重災區萊特省首府塔克洛班市，就有1萬人遇難。

“塔克洛班被徹底毀掉了。”當地教師安德魯·波梅達說，“因爲遭遇飢餓或者失去親人的重創，有些人失去了理智。人們變得很暴力，爲了找到食物充飢，他們搶劫商店、洗劫超市。我擔心在一個星期內，就會有人餓死。”

負責人道主義事務的聯合國官員表示，在菲律賓，很多道路仍舊無法通行，部分傷員因此不能得到救治。即使是在塔克洛班這個救援人員最先抵達的地區，因爲道路損毀嚴重，在市區和機場之間，一段14英里（約合23公里）的往返路程卻要花費長達6個小時。

***人手不足

目前，颱風“海燕”已在越南登陸。災難過境留下滿目瘡痍，菲律賓開始全力展開救災工作。菲政府稱，萊特省及其首府塔克洛班市被列爲重災區，被投入最多的救災力量。然而，當地情形仍舊不容樂觀。

塔克洛班市官員稱，由於人手嚴重不足，他們無法及時分發救災物資、很難維持秩序，致使搶劫頻發。“他們什麼都搶，就連電視機都會搬走，用來換取食物。我們的人手極其短缺，2000名僱員中，只有大約100人能夠正常工作，其他人都在忙着照顧他們的家人。”

根據英國廣播公司記者魯珀特·溫菲爾德·海斯的報道，塔克洛班簡直就是一座“毀滅之城”，“機場已經毀了，但還是有數百人在機場裏苦苦等候，想要搭上飛機逃離這個可怕的地方”。

***考慮戒嚴

10日，菲律賓總統阿基諾三世前往重災區塔克洛班市視察，他表示，當前的首要工作是向災民發放救援物資。

由於當地搶掠頻發、秩序混亂，塔克洛班市副市長傑裏·姚卡森（Jerry Yaokasin）向阿基諾三世提出建議，請求其宣佈塔克洛班市進入緊急狀態，如有需要的話，在那裏實施戒嚴，以防止無政府狀態蔓延。

阿基諾三世迴應稱，他將認真考慮上述建議。他還承諾，政府計劃派出300名警員和士兵，目的是“恢復（塔克洛班的）和平與秩序”。