Philippines: rebuilding country after typhoon could take ten years

Experts say rebuilding the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan could take up to ten years.

The reconstruction work has been described as “like building a new country.” The UN estimates the work will take longer and cost more than the rebuilding of Indonesia’s Aceh province after the 2004 tsunami.

The scale of the problems facing the Filipino people is immense. The typhoon killed more than 5,500 people, left more than 1,700 missing and displaced as many as four million people.

At least 26,00 people are estimated to be injured.

A small team of German doctors and nurses has set up camp in Palo, a town of 70,000 people 50 kilometres away from Tacloban, the worst-hit area. They see more than 150 people every day, most with respiratory illnesses.

One fear now is the threat of disease.The UN has set up a mass campaign to vaccinate children against polio and measles.

Aid workers in the Philippines are using every means at their disposal to help rebuild the country.

Drones are now being flown out over devastated areas, giving relief teams an overview of the damage. They can then see how best to clear roads, search through debris and find dead bodies

Liam Dawson from Danoffice IT, who own one of the drones, said they were making life easier:

“Body retrieval, depending on the zone, when the dogs find a person it’s not always in a very accessible zone, so this allows the rescuers to find the best possible and swiftest path possible to go and retrieve that body,” he said.

Nearly all businesses are still shut, with electricity lines down and many streets yet to be cleared of debris. But there are small signs of recovery with food stalls springing up amongst the debris, selling whatever food comes in that day.