The Situation for Haiyan victims in the Philippines is starting to improve slowly thanks to the massive international relief effort.
While logistical challenges remain, especially in the outlying areas, Philippine Ambassador to Thailand Jocelyn Batoon-Garcia said the Tacloban airport was now partially open and that main roads had been cleared, so aid such as food and medicine could be distributed.
"The airport in Tacloban is small. Trying to get a large C-130 to land there was a challenge. Checking the affected areas is not easy either. There are places that we are still trying to reach," she said.
With almost 4,000 people killed and some 11 million affected according to UN estimates, the Philippine government has been slammed for its slow response.
Jocelyn explained: "The government has actually pre-positioned 13,000 personnel and supplies for two days, which is our standard immediate response package. Traditionally we pre-position in Cebu and Tacoblan because those areas are not hit by typhoons, but unfortunately, they were hit and the two days worth of initial supplies were gone. First responders then became victims themselves, and adding to the problem was the magnitude of the typhoon. We had 1,500 vehicles ready to deploy, but they were damaged - completely unusable."
People in the Philippines are used to typhoons, getting hit by more than 20 storms a year on average, but the storm surge of this scale is relatively new.
"People are aware of tsunami destruction after 2004. There have been storm surges, but only 1 to 2 metres. They did not reach 10-15 metres high, which has the same effect as a tsunami. We have not encountered that type of storm surge before," the ambassador explained.
Though the envoy said she was glad she did not have any relatives in the affected areas, a member of the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs assigned there was killed in the typhoon.
"We appreciate the international community for responding and being of great assistance, including Thailand," Jocelyn said.