Filipino mayor requests helicopters to fly food to quake survivors

[Abc News] Philippine town seeks immediate airlift of food to ease hunger in quake-hit villages Philippine town seeks immediate airlift of food to ease hunger in quake-hit villages The mayor of a quake-hit southern Philippine town is pleading for air force helicopters to transport food to stave off hunger in places isolated by landslides GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines -- The mayor of a southern Philippine town that was devastated by a powerful earthquake pleaded Thursday for helicopters to transport food to stave off hunger in several landslide-isolated villages.

The 7.8 magnitude offshore quake, one of the strongest to hit the Philippine archipelago in a half century, struck Monday off the southern province of Sarangani and has left at least 47 people dead and injured 688 with 31 still missing. More than 45,000 people remained displaced, about half in emergency shelters, after the quake damaged more than 12,600 houses in farming towns and cities.

Many were still too traumatized to return home due to aftershocks, provincial officials said. Sarangani reported 20 dead from the quake, the highest toll from the affected provinces, mostly due to a landslide that buried houses in the coastal town of Glan, according to the government's Office of Civil Defense, which deals with major disasters.

Glan Mayor Victor James Yap said power has not been restored to his province and 10 of 31 villages in his town of more than 100,000 people remained inaccessible mostly due to landslides. He asked the government to immediately deploy air force helicopters to deliver food and other aid to the stricken areas.

“We need food and water but it’s difficult to transport them to some of our villages which remain isolated,” Yap told DZMM radio network. ” A key access road to the town has been reopened and will allow the delivery of fuel as early as Thursday, but the town remained without power and cellphone services were still spotty, according to Yap.

Most of the deaths from the quake were caused by falling debris from collapsed buildings and landslides in Sarangani, the coastal city of General Santos, and the outlying provinces of South Cotabato and Davao Occidental. Two swimmers drowned and one remained missing off General Santos after being swept out to sea shortly after the quake hit.