By Judith Ugwumadu | 12 November 2013

The United Nations today announced an emergency allocation of $25m to fund critical relief efforts in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines over the weekend.

John Ging, director of operations in the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that almost 9.8 million people are now believed to have been affected by the storm. He said the allocation from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund would allow agencies to respond quickly to the needs of communities across the affected region.

‘We’ve all seen the pictures coming through – the scale of devastation is massive. Therefore we require the mobilisation of a massive response,’ he said.

Ging added that the CERF allocation ‘is to enable humanitarian agencies to mobilise their response as quickly as feasible.’

The Philippines government and the UN estimate that approximately 660,000 people have been forced from their homes. The number of casualties continues to increase with officials in Leyte Province reporting that as many as 10,000 people may have died in Tacloban City.

The CERF announcement comes ahead of the planned launch in Manila‎ tomorrow of a flash appeal for emergency funds, at an event where representatives from the government and humanitarian agencies are expected to be in attendance.

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain would contribute £10m to get 800,000 people the food, water and shelter they urgently needed.

During a speech last night, he said Britain would deploy a Royal Navy warship – HMS Daring – and RAF military aircraft to help people devastated by the typhoon. At least one Boeing C-17 will be used to move vital humanitarian aid and large equipment to where it is needed.

He said: ‘[HMS Daring] will shortly be heading at full speed towards the disaster zone with further from an RAF C-17 which will be a powerful help to the relief operation.’

Speaking alongside Cameron, International Development Secretary Justine Greening said: ‘The scenes of utter devastation in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan are shocking in their scale and we know that the survivors, especially vulnerable children and women, now face a grim and uncertain future.’

The cost of the military assistance will be covered by the UK’s disaster relief fund.