Yolanda Disaster

Can there be a more difficult place to deliver aid? The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands. Typhoon Haiyan is one of the most powerful storms ever to have hit land. And its unique combination of extreme low pressure, 200mph winds and quirk of geography that channeled its force through the Leyte Gulf meant no one could have predicted the 16ft sea surge that wrought such utter devastation in coastal regions.

For the past four days, I have been in Tacloban, one of the very worst affected regions. There is almost nothing left of its infrastructure. There is no water, no electricity, no petrol. For journalists, it meant a torrid time avoiding downpours, sleeping in damp tents and trying to work out how to recharge laptops and satphones. For locals, who have lost everything, it means an uncertain future as aid agencies warn of a tide of disease and hunger. And for those charities it means an extraordinary logistical challenge to get help to where it is needed.

We journalists like to travel light. I carried about enough water to last for a week and enough biscuits to keep me functioning. No wonder I could get there ahead of the big life-saving charities, which need to ensure security, comms and living conditions for staff. That's a big operation.

It meant the response started sluggishly. And journalists were already on hand to document the fact.

But it all changed yesterday with the arrival of the USS George Washington – a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier – off the coast. The sky filled with activity, as helicopters ferried in supplies to Tacloban airport, where a team of Ospreys – those crazy half helicopter, half plane things – scooped up the food, water and medicines and dispatched them to far-flung areas in need. At the same time, the ground filled with burly American marines directing operations. It made for an impressive sight.

Of course it is not nearly enough to help the 600,000 or so people displaced by the storm across maybe a dozen islands.

But I have been shocked to see that the story for the past few days has been dominated by criticism of the relief effort.

These things take time. They can never, ever move fast enough when ships are the only way to deliver the colossal amounts of aid needed. No-one predicted that Typhoon Haiyan would be quite so lethal. And there is little left in the way of local government.

And you know what? One of the least reported aspects of this whole crisis has been the patient stoicism displayed by the victims. Most of their help has come from extended families. Relatives are looking after each other, pooling resources and sharing what little food they have. Those who have homes are taking in the homeless.

To lambast the international aid response and the local authorities is to misunderstand how humanitarian relief operates – and to overlook the humbling charity already on offer from people who have little to give.