The United Nations has allocated 10 million dollars for emergency assistance to nearly 1 million people in the Philippines displaced by the a typhoon, dpa quoted an official as saying Thursday. Typhoon Bopha slammed into the southern region of Mindanao on December 4, triggering floods and landslides that killed 1,067 people, leaving 834 still missing and feared dead. Luiza Carvalho, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator, said the money would be used for emergency shelter, debris clearing, water and sanitation, nutrition, protection and health services for the victims. "I was shocked by the scale of the destruction," she said in describing her visit to the affected areas. "Cities and villages have been completely devastated, with only a few roofless buildings and walls still standing, and entire plantations have been wiped out." More than 200,000 houses were destroyed by the typhoon, displacing an estimated more than 973,000 people into tents and temporary shelters made from debris and tarpaulins. The UN earlier appealed for 65 million dollars in humanitarian aid for the Philippines. To date, 38 million dollars have been contributed or pledged, it said.
