Philippines in early stages of recovery after typhoon

There were initial signs on Monday that communities in the Philippines devastated by Typhoon Haiyan were shifting from survival mode to the early stages of recovery.

Markets were beginning to reopen, though with very limited wares. Some gas stations were pumping. And residents were repairing damaged homes or making temporary shelters out of the remains of their old ones.

Nevertheless, residents are desperate to leave the disaster zone amid growing concerns over the lack of food and medicine, and the World Health Organization (WHO) is warning of significant medical concerns. A U.N. refugees representative also said that there are likely still devastated areas that aid hasn't reached.

Military and civilian teams from around the world have arrived to bolster the immediate response by local people and national authorities.

The U.S. government has been at the forefront in helping one of its Asian allies, committing $37 million to relief efforts.

That is in addition to about $23 million being provided in grants through the Asian Development Bank, which has approved a $500 million emergency loan to the Philippines. On Monday the World Bank said that it would match that loan offer.

A Pentagon statement said Monday that a crew from the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, which carries some 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircraft, were being recalled early from shore leave in Hong Kong and the ship was expected to arrive in 48 to 72 hours. Other U.S. Navy ships would also head to the Philippines, it said. 

Philippine President Benigno Aquino toured the disaster area on Sunday and promised to step up aid deliveries.

Aquino, seen as reformist president who had enjoyed considerable public support, has had to deal with a string of crises over the last year.

His administration has been criticized by some over its apparent failure to strictly enforce evacuation orders, and he has increasingly taken a hands-on role in responding to the disaster.

Meanwhile, the WHO has given warning that there are monumental health challenges facing those affected by the storm.

Rising temperatures and rain are providing perfect conditions for diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhea to thrive, the WHO said. Survivors are living amid massive amounts of trash and debris, and there are many decaying bodies that have yet to be buried.

Security forces are trying to impose order in Tacloban, the city worst hit by Haiyan, and it remains largely without electricity.

With a shortage of food and only 10 percent of the police force working in the days after the storm, Tacloban quickly fell into chaos. A nighttime curfew has since been enforced to help restore calm.

Many people are also still trying to escape Tacloban, since severe food and water shortages remain.

Meanwhile, the World Bank reported that the cost of natural disasters has quadrupled since the 1980s, rising from $50 billion a year to $200 billion a year.

"As the global climate continues to change, the costs and damages from more extreme weather related to a warming planet are growing," the World Bank reported on the sidelines of U.N. climate talks in Warsaw.

Disasters cost nearly $4 trillion over the last 30 years — about two-thirds of which was due to extreme storms, floods and drought — and killed more than 2.5 million people, it said in an analysis.

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim said that Typhoon Haiyan, the most powerful storm ever to hit the Philippines, had "brought into sharp focus how climate change is intensifying the severity of extreme weather events."

He said in the report, "Such tragic events show that the world can no longer afford to put off action to slow greenhouse emissions and help countries prepare for a world of greater climate and disaster risks."

Wire services