Australian forces help in school cleanup drive in Ormoc

At least 14,500 students from 13 schools in Ormoc City, Leyte have resumed their classes after Australian forces helped clean up classrooms that were choked with debris in the aftermath of super typhoon Yolanda.

Australian Defence Force engineers and sailors, with the local Department of Education and the Australian government, helped clean classrooms since arriving in the country on November 27, the Australian Embassy in Manila said in a statement.

In the past 12 days, the troops have repaired 175 classrooms and removed over 850 cubic meters of debris that filled 185 trucks, the embassy said.
They have also reroofed buildings and removed dangerous structures, it added.

The Australian forces were assisted by 140 local laborers in the cleanup drive, the embassy said.

“Just to see all the kids back at school after we’ve been here for just over a week is a really inspiring feeling,” said Lieutenant Colonel Rod Lang, the commander of the Australian Task Force, in the statement.

At least 500 Australian forces arrived in the Philippines on November 27 aboard their amphibious ship "Tobruk."

Australia has also sent Army engineers and Air Force C-130 and C-17 aircraft for relief operations.

Super typhoon Yolanda, which battered Central Philippines on November 8, is the world's strongest typhoon to hit land.