U.S. Sends Ships to Typhoon Ravaged Philippines November 12, 2013, 4:39 PM SGT byAlexander Martin The U.S. military stepped up humanitarian aid and disaster support efforts in the Philippines, ordering the USS George Washington aircraft carrier and other U.S. Navy ships to sail to the typhoon-ravaged archipelago. Pentagon press secretary George Little said Monday that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the vessels to “make best speed” to provide much needed aid following one of the world’s worst storms that has devastated infrastructure and is feared to have killed thousands and left many more without shelter and food. The USS George Washington, home-ported in Yokosuka, Japan, carries 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircrafts, and is currently in Hong Kong for a port visit, he said. Two more cruisers and a destroyer will join the ship, and the group is expected to arrive to the Philippines in the next 48 to 72 hours. Another supply ship would join the group en route to the Philippines, while another destroyer, the USS Lassen, has already headed toward the region Sunday, Mr. Little said. So far around 90 U.S. Marines and sailors are on the ground to provide aid and disaster support. Supertyphoon Haiyan – one of the most powerful typhoons to hit the Philippines – slammed the provinces of Leyte and Samar especially hard when it barrelled through the archipelago last Friday, displacing hundreds of thousands and flattening towns in its wake. The government has so far put the death count at 1,744, and the figure is expected to climb much higher. Meanwhile Japan on Tuesday announced it would be deploying around 40 Self-Defense Forces personnel to the Philippines to assist in disaster relief efforts. “We expect them to conduct medical and transportation activities at the site,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. Japan has already dispatched a two-person team to assess the damage, and has sent a 25-member medical team to Tacloban, capital of the province of Leyte. On Tuesday a new tropical storm made landfall in the Philippines about 290 miles from areas hardest hit by Haiyan, although it was much smaller in scale and its damage wasn’t expected to be substantial. Widespread looting has been reported on Leyte island, leading Philippines President Benigno Aquino III to order the deployment of additional police and military personnel to the area. The government says nearly 10 million people in 42 of the country’s 81 provinces were affected by the typhoon, and more than 28,000 houses were damaged. Copyright 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit djreprints
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 13:50:07 +0000