Typhoon Haiyan aftermath in Philippines: Conditions now most similar to 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia

The problem appears to be that the primary focus is to get food and water to the survivors but if I am reading the reports right and this holds true in most places, bodies are often not dealt with. If this were in a colder climate and not a tropical one like the Philippines this wouldn't be as much of a problem. But, in the tropics bodies decompose very rapidly and disease can start to get into water supplies from the decomposing bodies if they are not dealt with and put into body bags or buried to prevent the spread of disease.

So, despite the need to take care of the survivors the bodies of the dead need to be dealt with very soon as well or disease will start to spread among the survivors.

However, this is very problematic like in the 2004 Tsunami and in the 2011 tsunami that wiped out many cities in Japan and almost everyone in those cities died when the ocean came in and swept the cities away. So, the likelihood of diseases starting to spread as people on outlying islands get more desperate likely will increase now. So, the priority likely is water and food and shelter for the survivors and 2nd making sure those bodies are dealt with quickly before diseases start to spread through flies, mosquitos and bad water etc.