For Filipinos, the world scrambles to deliver 'the basics'
November 17, 2013 -- Updated 1545 GMT (2345 HKT)
Typhoon Haiyan survivors wait for an evacuation flight as a U.S. Navy helicopter takes off at the airport in Tacloban, Philippines, on Sunday, November 17. Troops and aid organizations have encountered blocked roads and devastating damage in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms in history.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- U.S. military capability "continuing to grow," bringing food, water, shelter, medicine
- British ship HMS Daring arrives in Cebu
- Water system in Tacloban getting "back on tap," USAID official says
(CNN) -- The United States and Britain are bolstering their military assets to urgently help millions of hungry and homeless Filipinos -- socked, soaked and dazed more than a week after Super Typhoon Haiyan clobbered the midsection of the Philippines.
"Right now, the U.S. military capability is continuing to grow," U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy told CNN on Sunday. "We need to get life-sustaining aid immediately out to the stricken population. Food, water, shelter, medicine -- those are the basics."
Kennedy said numerous aircraft -- such a dozen C-130 cargo airplanes, more than a dozen MV-22 Ospreys and several dozen UH-60 helicopters -- are being deployed.
About 9,000 U.S. troops are supporting the operation in the Philippines, a U.S. military official said. U.S. military assets have delivered approximately 623,000 pounds of relief supplies.
The British ship HMS Daring arrived in Cebu on Sunday to provide medical assistance, emergency supplies and clean water to stranded victims, the UK government said.
"HMS Daring's arrival is a major boost to DFID's disaster experts and medical teams already deployed in the Philippines," Britain's International Development Secretary Justine Greening said. referring to the Department for International Development.
"This Royal Navy vessel will help us open a lifeline and allow us to help many more victims of the disaster,"
The Philippine central government is being criticized for a slow and disorganized response to what all agree is a catastrophic event. The nation's disaster agency said between 9 million and 13 million people were affected in 44 provinces, 536 municipalities and 55 cities.
The United States and Britain are among nations across the globe racing against time to help Philippine authorities in a massive relief effort of delivering food and water to the devastated swaths of the archipelago.
When the typhoon hit the central part of the country on November 8, many lost their homes and electric power. As the days went by, thousands were scrounging for food, clean water, and medical aid.
Along with more than 3,000 deaths, about 3 million people have been displaced, communities have been flattened and looting and violence have erupted.
Nancy Lindborg, an assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, told CNN on Sunday the United States has been focused "on getting the logistics up, bringing in food, shelter, and getting the water system back on tap."
She cited a bit of progress in helping the infrastructure in Tacloban, a major city that was ground zero for the typhoon strike.
"Yesterday, we were able to support UNCIEF in bringing the water system back on stream," she said. "There are now 150,000 people in Tacloban being served by clean water."
Crews continued to collect bodies from streets, with the official death toll raised Sunday to 3,681.
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November 12, 2013 -- Updated 1205 GMT (2005 HKT)
The unbearable stench of rotting flesh. The search for relatives under heaps of rubble. The desperate pleas for food and water.
November 13, 2013 -- Updated 0129 GMT (0929 HKT)
People thousands of miles from the Philippines still felt their hearts stop and their bearings spin as Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the island nation.
November 14, 2013 -- Updated 0052 GMT (0852 HKT)
The stories coming out of the Philippines are unimaginable. Rushing water and wind tearing children away from their parents' arms. A city of 200,000 in which no buildings appear to have survived intact.
November 14, 2013 -- Updated 0111 GMT (0911 HKT)
The image lasts just four seconds, flashed on the screen during the opening sequence of a Filipino news program posted online.
November 11, 2013 -- Updated 2316 GMT (0716 HKT)
The unprecedented natural disaster is a potential medical disaster for the Philippines, according to emergency crews on the ground.
November 12, 2013 -- Updated 0022 GMT (0822 HKT)
Prison inmates threaten a mutiny if they aren't given food in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. Andrew Stevens reports.
November 11, 2013 -- Updated 2359 GMT (0759 HKT)
CNN reporters capture sounds and images of Typhoon Haiyan's devastating trek through Tacloban, Philippines.
November 11, 2013 -- Updated 2300 GMT (0700 HKT)
Officials worry the increasing number of decaying bodies will become a health hazard for survivors of Typhoon Haiyan.
November 17, 2013 -- Updated 1535 GMT (2335 HKT)
Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms in recorded history, left thousands of victims in its wake.
November 11, 2013 -- Updated 1719 GMT (0119 HKT)
CNN's Paula Hancocks reports on the grim scene around the city of Tacloban, Philippines, following Super Typhoon Haiyan.
November 11, 2013 -- Updated 1240 GMT (2040 HKT)
'I was gob-smacked as we made our final approach into the ruins of the airport in Tacloban,' says CNN's Ivan Watson.
November 11, 2013 -- Updated 2105 GMT (0505 HKT)
Flattened forests and flooded villages in the Philippines seen from the air.
November 11, 2013 -- Updated 2058 GMT (0458 HKT)
Christiane Amanpour speaks to the Philippines Secretary of Health about the devastation brought on by Super Typhoon Haiyan.
November 17, 2013 -- Updated 1341 GMT (2141 HKT)
Troops and aid organizations help Filipinos struggling to survive the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms in recorded history.
November 10, 2013 -- Updated 1403 GMT (2203 HKT)
CNN's Andrew Stevens was on the ground in Tacloban as Typhoon Haiyan brought a storm surge to the Philippines coast.
November 17, 2013 -- Updated 1325 GMT (2125 HKT)
The storm affected 4.3 million people in 36 provinces and displaced more than 340,000.
November 10, 2013 -- Updated 1637 GMT (0037 HKT)
No building in this coastal city of 200,000 residents appears to have escaped damage from Super Typhoon Haiyan.
November 10, 2013 -- Updated 1954 GMT (0354 HKT)
Powered by ferocious winds, the fast-moving Super Typhoon Haiyan swept through the Philippines, a country of more than 92 million people all too familiar with destructive storms.
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