The governor of a province in the Philippines sounded the alarm on Tuesday after Typhoon Rai ravaged his island, leaving residents without clean water and food.
Arthur Yap, governor of Bohol, said his island was short of money and asked the government of President Rodrigo Duterte to send funds to provide clean water and food to families in distress.
“If you don’t send money to buy food, send soldiers and police because there will be looting here,” Yap warned in an interview with DZBB radio.
As other parts of the country prepare to celebrate Christmas, his province “is in a situation similar to (the one that had left her) Yolanda,” he said, using Typhoon Haiyan’s local name of 2013, the deadliest the Philippines has ever seen.
The Filipino military was engaged in a race against time on Tuesday to bring food and water to the islands devastated by Typhoon Rai, while the provisional death toll stands at 375 dead and more than 400,000 people have taken refuge in the centers of evacuation or with relatives, according to the agency of natural disasters.
Thousands of soldiers, police and coast guards have been deployed to distribute food, clean water and medical supplies to survivors, who are struggling to find basic necessities.
“I ordered the military to deploy all available means – ships, boats, planes, trucks – to deliver aid to the disaster areas,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Monday.
Red Cross Appeal
The Red Cross is also sending aid to the islands of Siargao and Bohol, tourist destinations already struggling after eighteen months of anti-Covid restrictions.
“The IFRC’s emergency appeal helps us to act quickly and do all we can to help individuals and families get back on their feet,” said Alberto Bocanegra, head of the International Federation of Societies of the Cross. -Red and Red Crescent in the Philippines.
The organization launched an appeal for donations to raise 22 million dollars (19.5 million euros) for emergency and reconstruction aid.
The UK has pledged one million dollars (880 million euros) to the IFRC.
Rai is particularly late in the season, with most tropical cyclones in the Pacific Ocean forming between July and October.
Scientists have long warned that typhoons get stronger and stronger as global warming accelerates.