In Tacloban, exodus comes with a high cost

TACLOBAN CITY - More families continue to leave Tacloban City after the devastation brought by super typhoon "Yolanda." A report by ABS-CBN correspondent Atom Araullo said scores of families are crowding the Tacloban City airport, the sea port and even the bus terminals to catch a ride out of Tacloban. In the airport, families lined up to ride the Philippine Air Force's C-130 plane out of Tacloban. Not everyone, however, can be accommodated because of the long queues. "It is a little chaotic in the airport. There doesn't seem to be a system in place to make sure that people are in line and that things are orderly," Araullo said in the report. He also said some of those trying to leave Tacloban are not even sure where their relatives in Cebu and Manila are staying. However, they still want to leave the city to escape the destruction until Tacloban is restored to normalcy. He said one piece of good news is that people lining up for a ride at the airport are receiving food from authorities. Some Tacloban residents, meanwhile, are going to bus terminals to catch a bus ride to as far away as Manila. "The problem in these areas are the fares of the buses and the vans have been hiked pretty much 10 times and a lot of the people ravaged by the storm do not have those resources at the moment," Araullo reported. The report said the number one problem of residents is still the lack of food and water as relief goods have been slow in coming. Some residents said they have yet to receive relief goods but admitted that the government has brought relief packs to some barangays. The main roads in Tacloban have been cleared of debris, which is important for the distribution of relief packs to the city. Mobility is much improved but many residents still cannot use their vehicles due to scarcity of fuel. The report confirmed there are still many dead bodies in Tacloban especially on the way to the airport. In Barangay San Jose, many dead bodies have been placed in body bags and tagged for possible transport to a mass grave. "Compared to other days, there is a more concerted effort and more people tagging these bodies on the streets. We see people and policemen, crime operatives and the SOCO, personnel from the DOH bringing the body bags," he reported. ANC Dateline Philippines, November 14, 2013