Manila – A total of $20 million worth of aid and humanitarian assistance will be provided by the United States Government following the devastation brought by the onslaught of Super typhoon Yolanda(international codename: Haiyan) in Eastern Visayas Region.
In a statement released by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the US will provide humanitarian assistance such as emergency food aid and critical relief supplies (including shelter material and hygiene kits) for disaster-affected areas.
The USAID said that even before Yolanda showed her wrath in Leyte and Samar Province, the agency prepositioned a disaster assistance response team in the region, which arrived in the devastated Leyte province ahead of other international government assessment teams.
“We are working closely with the US Department of Defense to airlift emergency relief supplies and transport aid workers to areas cut off by the storm,” the statement reads.
The agency added that a shipment is already on its way with enough plastic sheeting, soap, toothbrushes, toilet paper, and sanitary supplies to help around 10,000 families while another shipment with 55 metric tons of food, including highly nutritious bars and paste (containing a day’s worth of calories) “to nourish approximately 20,000 children and 15,000 adults for roughly 4 to 5 days.”
Also, members of the 3rd Expeditionary Brigade of the United States Marine Corps deployed yesterday from Air Station Futenma in Japan already arrived in Tacloban City. Along with them were two KC-130J Hercules aircraft from 1st Marine Aircraft Wing which will help in shipping relief items from Manila and Cebu going to the devastated towns affected by the weather disturbance.
