More MMDA aid teams racing to isolated Samar towns
MANILA, Philippines—The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Wednesday said it is set to deploy additional teams of rescuers to Samar within the day as government relief efforts continue for communities affected by monster typhoon “Yolanda” (international name Haiyan).
MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the sixth and seventh teams composed of trained rescuers would focus on Guiuan in Eastern Samar and Basey in Samar, which also suffered extensive damage at the height of Yolanda’s fury.
Aside from bringing in more tools and equipment, the MMDA teams to Eastern Samar also carried more generator sets as the entire province still has no electricity since last week.
On November 8, Yolanda made its first landfall in Guiuan, which is 154 kilometers from Tacloban City.
Meanwhile, Basey is located across the waters from hard-hit Tacloban City.
Article continues after this advertisementFollowing this deployment, 275 MMDA personnel are now deployed to Leyte and Eastern Samar for ongoing rescue and clearing operations.
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