Filipinos wait long hours for help in wake of Typhoon Haiyan
(CBS News) TACLOBAN, the Philippines -- Today help began arriving to some parts of the Philippines for the first time since Typhoon Haiyan. U.S. helicopters are now delivering supplies.
The government raised the official death toll to more than 3,600 but it will likely go higher.
Tacloban, the city hit the hardest, has started to limp back to life. The sound of hammers filled the air as city workers start to rebuild their shattered towns.
But finding food and water can be an all-day job. And nothing is easy.
This driveway was turned into a medical clinic. Residents waited for hours before the doctor turned up.
Jessica Advicula had to walk 30 minutes to find water.
"I've been here for like 3-hours and we're thankful for this,” she said. “At least we have water to drink and it's safe.”
But she told us she's frightened of the looters and armed gangs roaming the streets after dark. She does not think things starting to get better.
“I don't really think so,” Advicula said.
“Because at night time this is a very different place,” she said. “It's really scary at nighttime.”
Barely a quarter of Tacloban's police are back at work. The Philippine government has now sent in reinforcements.
Inspector Jun Daguro is from Manila, and was posted to a ruined shopping mall.
Asked how long he thought he would be here, he answered, “Maybe a couple of months, sir.”
He would stay until security was restored, he said.
Today, the first aid ship arrived in Tacloban's port.
Overhead, American Navy helicopters flew hundreds of
trips, taking off from the USS George Washington, dropping water and food in
villages still cut off from the storm.
The aid is starting to trickle in to some neighborhoods but its availability still varies street by street.
Advicula said that residents lucky enough to find water and food probably got only enough to last for a day or two, the need was just so great.
But for some it was too late. The line-ups at the airport to get out of Tacloban were only getting longer.
