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WASHINGTON DC, United States –The United States has sent an additional 90 troops to the storm-ravaged Philippines for humanitarian assistance efforts, the Marine Corps said Monday, November 11.
Four MV-22B Ospreys – aircraft that can operate in difficult environments – and 3 KC-130J Hercules planes headed to the disaster zones from Japan, according to a statement.
On board were some 90 marines and sailors, bringing to 180 the American personnel who are already in the worst-hit city of Tacloban in Leyte province.
They are tasked with helping a humanitarian assistance survey team of 90 marines and sailors on the ground in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, which may have killed as many as 10,000 people when it flattened entire towns Friday.
The first batch of US Marines to arrived in the city of Tacloban earlier Monday to deliver emergency supplies expressed shock at the devastation.
“Everything’s destroyed,” said Brigadier General Paul Kennedy, the commanding general of the Okinawa-based 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.
Secretary of State John Kerry said the US government was “organizing emergency shipments of critically needed material to provide shelter to the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos driven from their homes,” in addition to food and hygiene supplies.
The top diplomat also said the State Department was working with the NGO Team Rubicon to deploy a group of veterans to the region.
“I want to assure the people of the Philippines and the many Americans of Filipino heritage that we are working as hard as possible to provide essential assistance to help the Philippine people and their government recover from this tragedy,” Kerry said.
Since 1990, the US government has responded to more than 40 disasters in the Philippines, according to the Pentagon. – Rappler.com
Get the latest info on the status of areas affected by typhoon Yolanda (international codename: Haiyan).
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Visit rappler.com/typhoon-yolanda for the latest updates on Typhoon Yolanda.
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