WASHINGTON — The number of American troops helping the relief effort in the typhoon-hit Philippines could triple to more than 1,000 by the end of the week, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
Senior Obama administration officials that after a very difficult first few days, they are cautiously optimistic that logistical bottlenecks that have held up large quantities of aid material are easing.
Thousands were killed and 600,000 people displaced by last week's powerful storm that struck the central Philippines, and many remain hungry, thirsty and sick. The Southeast Asian nation is a U.S. treaty ally, and Washington has provided $20 million in immediate aid, and providing ships and aircraft to help distribute supplies.
Coordination at the airport in the hard-hit Tacloban has improved, and a road to the city that was cut by the storm has opened up, which should accelerate the distribution of relief supplies, said the officials, who briefed reporters about the American response to the disaster. They demanded anonymity under ground rules set by the administration.
"For the first few days we were fully reliant on the airport for our only hub for getting anything into that town. It was a lot like trying to squeeze an orange through a straw. We are now getting more and bigger straws," said one U.S. official.
The first airlift of hygiene kits and plastic sheeting from the U.S. Agency for International Development was distributed Wednesday to help 10,000 families, and another consignment is due to arrive in the capital Manila Thursday. The first shipment of U.S. food aid is expected to be distributed by the U.N. World Food Program in the next day or so.
The U.S. is using C-130 transport planes and Osprey helicopters to transport aid, which is now reaching out to coastal villages. The transport planes have evacuated about 800 victims of the disaster from Tacloban to Manila. Unmanned aircraft deployed from Guam have also provided overhead reconnaissance to help in damage assessment.
Some 307 U.S. military personnel are currently in the Philippines. The U.S. is still assessing the size of deployment that will be needed to help the relief effort, but more U.S. Marines should depart soon from Okinawa, Japan, which could bring the total number of troops to more than 1,000 by the end of the week.
The U.S. military is also helping transport Philippine security forces to enforce a curfew and restore order to the typhoon-hit region, where violence and armed looting has occurred because of lack of basic supplies. The U.S. officials said maintenance of security is the responsibility of the Philippine authorities, and the situation is improving.