Rescue and Relief
Rescue teams including military personnel proceeded to the affected areas. However, relief efforts are hampered by rain, chest-deep mud, roads blocked by boulders, washed-out bridges, and lack of heavy equipment. A minor earthquake in the morning of 17 February also affected the relief operation as the ground remained unstable.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo made an address on television stating that "help is on the way". Navy and coast guard ships were dispatched to the coastal area.
On 17 February, Philippine National Red Cross chairman Richard J. Gordon who was then in Geneva attending a board meeting of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement appealed for international assistance. He raised US $1.5 million to help the victims of the mudslides. The funds will be used to purchase tents, blankets, cooking utensils, mosquito nets, temporary shelter materials, hygiene articles, water purification tablets and medicines. US $152,000 has already been released to provide initial assistance. A relief plane was being flown into the region carrying emergency trauma kits, rubber boots, ropes, clothing, flashlights and medicine. Three Philippines National Red Cross teams with search and rescue dogs were at the site to provide assistance and more are expected to join. The Red Cross said that it feared that the death toll would be high.
The United States sent three naval vessels, the USS Curtis Wilbur, USS Essex, USS Harpers Ferry with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, to the area to provide assistance.
About 6,000 U.S. Army and Marine Corps troops are in the Philippines for an annual bilateral exercise. The US government has also donated $100,000 worth of disaster equipment to the Philippine National Red Cross. USAID has turned over 29 million pesos (about $560,000) worth of food and non-food items.
Other countries have donated or pledged assistance to the Philippine government. China offered a donation of $1 million in cash and material. Australia also offered A$1 million ($740,000) in immediate relief. Taiwan pledged enough medicine to treat 3,000 individuals for a month and a half along with $100,000. Thailand also pledged $100,000. Malaysia sent a 60-man search-and-rescue and medical assistance team named the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance Team (SMART). Spain, through a non-government organization, the Unidad Canina de Rescate y Salvamento, sent a six-man rescue team equipped with five sniffer dogs to aid in the relief and rescue efforts. South Korea promised $1 million. New Zealand would send $133,000 to be used in future rescue operations. Singapore has said, according to a statement from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, that officials would help the Arroyo administration in any way possible. Indonesia and Turkey have offered humanitarian contingents as well.
The Philippine National Red Cross reported that 53 persons were rescued from the mud on 17 February, but the rescue efforts had to be suspended at nightfall for safety reasons.
Read more about this topic: 2006 Southern Leyte Mudslide
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