Typhoon Haiyan: Toll climbs to 3,633 dead, more cadaver bags en route

.

 

A Philippine soldier guards U.S. aid in the aftermath of the typhoon at Tacloban airport on Friday, November 15. Troops and aid organizations have been confronted with blocked roads and devastating damage in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms in history. See how you can help. 

 

Volunteers prepare relief goods for victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan in Manila on Thursday, November 14.

Stranded passengers board a plane at a damaged airport in Tacloban, Philippines, on Wednesday, November 13.

Soldiers evacuate a sick survivor at an airport in Tacloban on November 13.

Relief supplies for the victims in the Philippines are loaded into an aircraft in Germany on November 13.

Soldiers load relief goods onto a truck in Tacloban on November 13.

People wait in line to receive relief goods in Leyte on Tuesday, November 12.

Evacuees send e-mails to their family members and relatives at a free Internet cafe set up by the Philippines government on November 12 in Tacloban.

Aid workers arrive in Leyte to assist survivors on November 12.

People wait at a bus stop November 12 in Tacloban, Philippines.

People board a U.S. military plane to evacuate Tacloban on November 12.

People carry sacks of goods November 12 in Tacloban.

A member of the Japanese Disaster Relief Team carries goods in Tacloban on November 12.

Rescuers in Guigang City, China, search a flooded road by boat on November 12. China and Vietnam were also hit hard by the typhoon.

Residents line up to receive treatment and supplies at the Tacloban airport on Monday, November 11.

Staff load a Hercules airplane with equipment November 11 at the Orebro airport in central Sweden. The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, together with its humanitarian partners, sent equipment to support the United Nations' relief work in the Philippines.

Philippine troops load boxes of water at Villamor Air Force Base in Manila, Philippines, on November 11.

A man seeking aid paints a message on a basketball court November 11 in Anibong, Philippines.

Villagers in Hernani, Philippines, run toward government officials hoping for food November 11.

A military helicopter delivering food prepares to land at the airport in Guiuan, Philippines, on November 11.

Emily Ortega rests on November 11 after giving birth to Bea Joy at an improvised clinic at the Tacloban airport.

Typhoon survivors line up at the Tacloban airport on November 11 to board a U.S. military plane bound for Manila.

Philippine Air Force personnel prepare to load relief supplies at the Tacloban airport on November 11.

Philippine police commandos prepare to board a military plane in Manila on Sunday, November 10.

A Tacloban resident carries boxes of milk November 10 as he passes by ships washed ashore by the powerful storm.

Residents carry relief goods along the bay in Tacloban on November 10.

Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts

<<

>>

Are you in the affected area? Send us images and video, but please stay safe.
Tacloban, Philippines (CNN) -- More than a week after Typhoon Haiyan laid waste to much of the central Philippines, the toll is overwhelming: entire communities flattened, thousands dead and nearly 2 million people displaced.
The arrival in recent days of hundreds of aid workers and military troops has seen a flood gate of humanitarian aid -- food, water and medical supplies -- open, albeit sporadically, in the hard hit provinces.
Crews continued Saturday to collect bodies from streets, with the death toll raised to 3,633, according to the national disaster agency's official death count.
The number of injured stood at 12,487, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported. At least 1,179 were missing.
For some who survived the monster storm, the aid came too late.
Richard Pulga, 27, died Friday, seven days after surviving the massive storm surge and fierce winds that flattened large portions of Tacloban City, a city of more than 200,000 people.
Pulga initially suffered an "open fracture of his shin bones," according to doctors working at a damaged clinic. He then contracted a "terrible infection" that left him in need of a blood transfusion.
But with the clinic out of blood and antibiotics, he eventually died, the doctors said.
The death toll could still climb higher, with an additional 1,000 cadaver bags sent to provinces, the disaster council announced as search-and-rescue operations continued in Tacloban City.
The national disaster council's executive director, Eduardo Del Rosario, said the bags would be placed on stand-by, given that most of the bodies had already been buried in mass graves or claimed by relatives.
Used cadaver bags are cleaned before being reused, he said.
The nation's disaster agency said more than 9 million people were affected in 44 provinces, 536 municipalities and 55 cities. Nearly 2 million were displaced, with about 400,000 of them finding shelter inside evacuation centers.

Photos: Typhoon Haiyan

Photos: Children among typhoon victims

Typhoon Haiyan: A week of devastation

In Tacloban City, sickness, hunger and thirst have settled in with the sticky, humid heat and the stench of rancid flesh hanging over the apocalyptic scene.
Survivors in improvised shelters have kept watch over the bodies of their dead relatives.
Typhoon Haiyan: Faces of the storm
Cadaver collectors in debris-removal crews uncover some of the dead, while heaving away wreckage from the roads.
But the bodies that initially seemed ubiquitous are becoming a rarer sight, as collections continue.
PNA reported Friday that five-person teams that include a forensic expert and photographer would begin Saturday using a "quick system" for the bodies.
"Under the system, the public will not be allowed to view the identification process but relatives will be asked to participate in the final identification of corpses at an appointed time," it reported, citing the Department of Health.
Each team will be required to handle 40 corpses per day, it said.
Health Secretary Enrique Ona said that photos will be taken, identifying marks will be documented, and belongings and tissue samples for possible use in DNA testing will be collected, when practical.
Officially, 801 bodies were counted in Tacloban City by Friday, but thousands are feared dead in the capital city of Leyte province where entire neighborhoods were swept out to sea.
Turning a corner?

Children at risk in the Philippines

Children at risk in the Philippines

Confusion over typhoon death toll

Anderson defends CNN's typhoon coverage

 

By Friday, crews had cleared the major streets of Tacloban
Many survivors have converged on the city's airport, where they were waiting in line for seats on flights out.
Others took to the sea. As naval ships pushed up on beaches like gray whales and dropped their loading bay gates, people laden with possessions entered the bellies of the arks en route to new lives elsewhere.
At the convention center, many stood for hours in long lines under the sun awaiting the next load of food and bottled water to arrive in bulk pallets from donors around the world.
Some were there because they had nowhere else to go.
"We really don't know what we're going to do next," said 30-year-old May May Gula, who was among nine families sharing a room on the convention center's ground floor.
Reaching and helping the survivors -- more than 2 million of whom need food, according to the government -- are priorities.
Recovery efforts were helped on Thursday, when the USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier with 5,500 crew, sailed into Philippine waters.

PHILIPPINES AID (IN U.S. $)

Australia: 30 million

U.N.: 25 million

UK: 24 million

U.S.: 20 million

Japan: 10 million

Denmark: 6.9 million

European Union: 4.1 million

Sweden: 3.6 million

UAE: 10 million

South Korea: 5 million

Canada: 4.8 million

Norway: 3.4 million

Switzerland: 3.4 million

Indonesia: 2 million

Spain: 1.8 million

New Zealand: 1.75 million

China: 1.6 million

Ireland: 1.4 million

Italy: 1.3 million

Mexico: 1 million

Austria: 690,000

Belgium: 690,000

Czech Republic: 214,000

Singapore:160,000

Vatican: 150,000

Vietnam: 100,000

Source: U.N. OCHA, government officials, reports

It was accompanied by eight more ships that, together, carry 80 aircraft, including 21 helicopters that can deliver supplies to villages, where many roads have been obliterated, and identify people still cut off from help.
By Saturday, the U.S. miltiary had delivered 623,000 pounded of relief supplies, the Department of Defense said.
How to help Typhoon Haiyan survivors
Irony -- those who help survivors struggled to survive
Some who would typically have provided aid found themselves needing help.
Ryan Cardenas, with the Philippine Navy, had helped with recovery efforts in each of the past two years after cyclones that left hundreds dead.
But when Haiyan slammed into the Tacloban naval station where he's based, he and other sailors were in no position to help others immediately -- they stayed alive by clinging to rafters in their barracks.
Their commanding officer, who was in a building badly damaged by the storm, clutched a palm tree's trunk for survival.
Afterward, the sailors helped retrieve bodies, according to Cardenas. One found his mother sitting dead against a wall.
Later, they sorted through the wreckage of the naval station and awaited orders.
"This is the worst," Cardenas said, taking a break from fixing a piece of damaged furniture. "We're both victims and rescuers."
Typhoon victim: This is worse than hell
CNN's Jethro Mullen reported from Tacloban; Ben Brumfield and Chelsea J. Carter wrote and reported from Atlanta. CNN's Anna Coren contributed from Cebu; Karen Smith and Tom Watkins contributed from Atlanta.



Typhoon Haiyan: Toll climbs to 3,633 dead, more cadaver bags en route - CNN.com