The Australian government pledged $10m million dollars of emergency aid to the Philippines as the scale of the devastation unleashed by Super Typhoon Haiyan emerges. But amid the tragedy an amazing story of hope after a miracle baby was born in the rubble. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop today described the unfolding tragedy as absolutely devastating and on a massive scale. The sum includes $4 million towards a UN global appeal and Aus$3 million for Australian non-government organisations. The aid will include tarpaulins, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, water containers and health and hygiene kits. A team of Australian medics will leave on Wednesday via a C17 military transport plane from Darwin to join disaster experts already on the ground, the government said, after it disbursed emergency funds worth US$490,000 on Sunday. Donate to the Typhoon Haiyan appeal Philippine rescue teams were said to be overwhelmed in their efforts to help those whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed after Haiyan ravaged large swathes of the archipelago Friday. Officials were struggling to cope with the scale of death and destruction, with reports of violent looters and scarcity of food, drinking water and shelter. United Nations leader Ban Ki-moon promised UN humanitarian agencies would respond rapidly to help people in need. The UN childrens fund UNICEF said a cargo plane carrying 60 tonnes of aid including shelters and medicine would arrive in the Philippines Tuesday, to be followed by deliveries of water purification and sanitation equipment. Pope Francis led 60,000 people in Sunday prayers for the Philippines, urging the faithful to provide concrete help to the largely Roman Catholic country. Sadly, there are many, many victims and the damage is huge, he said.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 10:20:37 +0000
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