The UN on Monday appealed for 65 million dollars in emergency aid for millions of victims of a typhoon in the southern Philippines, where at least 647 people were killed as muddy floodwaters washed out villages.
The action plan for recovery would “deliver urgently needed food, water and emergency shelter and other urgent assistance to 480,000 seriously affected people in the worst-hit areas,’’ the UN's Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
The plan would also help rehabilitate the agricultural sector, a key industry among millions in the southern region of Mindanao, where the storm made landfall on Tuesday.
“Farmers in Mindanao, one of the poorest areas in the Philippines, have seen their crops devastated,’’ the office said.
“In an area highly dependent on subsistence agriculture, thousands are now completely unable to provide for their families.’’
More than?five million people were affected by Typhoon Bopha's onslaught, according to the Philippines' Office of Civil Defence.
At least 780 people were still missing from the devastation, mostly in the provinces of Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental on Mindanao, which were the hardest-hit areas, it said.
Luiza Carvalho, the UN humanitarian coordinator, who visited the affected areas, described Bopha's impact as “beyond imagination.’’
“I have seen total devastation of villages,’’ she said in nearby Davao City.
“Neighbourhoods are completely flattened and houses reduced to debris. Entire communities, including pregnant women and children, have no shelter.
“We pledge to work alongside the Filipino people and the government for as long as it takes to get everyone back on their feet,’’ she said.
Amid reports that many victims have resorted to looting and begging for food, the Philippine government vowed to step up relief operations for the victims.
“We're doing everything we can to rush aid to the victims,’’ said Benito Ramos, head of the government's disaster relief agency.
“We hope they understand that there are times when we encounter difficulties in bringing supplies.’’
Bopha, the strongest cyclone to hit the Philippines this year, triggered floods and landslides that damaged more than 70,000 homes, cut off power supplies and communications lines.
It caused damage estimated at 177.75 million dollars. (dpa/NAN)