People gathering in the various regions of the Philippines for Sunday Service - Mathias Eick, EU/ECHO (Flickr)

The supplies had been long overdue, leaving many of these homeless families to manage on their own in the ruins for days while the United Nations struggled to place an accurate estimate on the damage.

From Reuters: 

“The aid effort was still patchy, with relief officials reporting a surge in desperate, hungry survivors trying to leave the coastal city of Ormoc, 105 km (65 miles) west of Tacloban, the worst-affected major city.

Residents of Tanauan, a fishing town about 15 km (9 miles) southeast of Tacloban, said they only started receiving substantial aid on Friday after being forced to survive on biscuits and dispose of dead bodies on their own for days.”

Typhoon Haiyan reportedly killed at least 3,633 people with 1,179 missing. The aid is “still patchy” and many of the victims are not receiving the help they need continue surviving.

The help received has been useful, but with almost a week of destruction passing before limited resources could be distributed, the situation is looking grim for the survivors.

Read the full story here. 

Reach Executive Producer Eric Parra here.