The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has deployed two battalions in
Leyte to help clear roads in an around Tacloban City, believed to be choked with
debris in the aftermath of the world's strongest typhoon to ever make
landfall.
The 525th Engineering Combat Battalion and 1st Special Forces Battalion
will help clearing operations led by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Council, the AFP said in a statement Monday.
Military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala said the clearing
operations will make transporting relief goods to affected areas easier.
"Right now, what's important is really to clear the areas from debris so
that the main supply route is (made) passable," Zagala said.
"Once the area will be cleared, then we can smoothly transport the
necessary relief goods and assistance in the affected areas," he added.
The two battalions of about 500 troops each will also assist in
humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations, as well as in
restoring peace and order amid reports of residents looting food and
supplies.
"We do know na madaming isolated areas that we need to get to and the only
way we can do that, the most practical (and) fastest way, to bring relief is
clear the roads. (T)hat is the priority now," he said.
Zagala noted the two battalions are reinforcing the 3rd and 8th Infantry
Divisions, the Second Air Division, and Naval Forces Central, which are already
in place.
As of Monday morning, the official death toll stands at 255, but a police
official feared it may have stood at 10,000 fatalities in Leyte province alone,
where about 80
percent of the structures were destroyed.
Tacloban, the provincial capital of Leyte, is situated in a cove between a
bay and a sea strait, making it susceptible to a storm surge that flattened
structures and drowned people on its path, Reuters reported.
A storm
surge refers is an abnormal rise in sea levels associated with strong winds and
abnormally low atmospheric pressure brought by a strong typhoon and a normal
high tide.
Yolanda, which brought monster winds and tsunami-like waves on Friday, is
officially the
fourth-strongest tropical cyclone in history in terms of overall strength.
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