Race on to rush relief to Philippine flood victims

Filipino typhoon evacuees carry their bags of relief goods as they walk barefooted along a mud-covered road in Infanta town in Quezon province. Picture / Reuters

GENERAL NAKAR - Philippine soldiers yesterday rushed food, drinking water and other supplies by foot and helicopter to provinces cut off by four storms in two weeks which have left more than 1300 people dead or missing.

The helicopters brought back wounded and sick people, pregnant women, the elderly and infants to Army bases.

Hundreds of displaced residents in several temporary shelter areas in three towns in Quezon scrambled to get into two dozen helicopters shuttling relief goods and people.

"Please take us out from here," said Mary Grace, pleading to helicopter pilots ferrying civilians to the Army bases after delivering relief goods. "The food is not enough here. We have no homes to return to, we have no livelihood."

Army and civilian engineers worked round the clock to clear mud-covered roads and build temporary bridges to get relief to the three coastal towns in Quezon province hardest hit by the deadly storms.

"People there are still in trauma and shock," Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said.

"We have to feed them because they lost everything. Even if they have money, there's nothing left to buy in that area."

She said the Government had received some 29 million pesos ($730,915) of relief materials from international and local agencies for distribution to over 500,000 people affected by the typhoons.

She said drinking water, food, medicines and clothes were brought in by Navy ships, airlifted by helicopters and then carried by hundreds of soldiers who walked hours to reach disaster areas.

Disaster officials said relief efforts would continue in the next 10 days before rehabilitation work began

. As of yesterday, 628 people were listed dead, 579 injured and 718 missing in the east and north of the main Luzon island.

- REUTERS