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A year after Typhoon Haiyan's devastation, only a fraction of the four million displaced have rebuilt their homes, aid agency Red Cross said.
The seven-metre storm surges from the typhoon completely destroyed communities, including 90 percent of the city of Tacloban in Leyte province.
Roderic Salve, disaster risk reduction manager at the Philippines Red Cross, was among the first emergency responders dispatched to Tacloban the day after the disaster.
A view of the destroyed coastline in Taclaban City on November 17, 2013 in Leyte, and the same view a year on. (Getty Images/SBS)
He said the scale of the devastation was shocking even to him as an aid worker familiar with natural disasters.
"[It] was really unexpected what happened. It's more than real devastation.
"It is my first time to experience ... where even a concrete structures are being destroyed. It is where I see people on top of the powerlines. It is actually not within the range of normal disasters I have been through."
Full interview with Roderic Salve:
The UN said one year on from the disaster, close to 25,000 people are still living in bunk houses, tents and temporary shelters.
The Red Cross said it has built 8,000 storm-proof homes of its 40,000 target, with logistical challenges in accessing building supplies slowing down efforts.
He said a lot of ground has been covered in the recovery effort over the past year.
"People are getting back to their own work, to their jobs.
"People are doing what they're supposed to do in the past: their day-to-day living and operations. Schools are getting back to normal. Students are getting back to schools, actually, and you can see the markets are getting back to operational."
But the biggest challenge remains psychological.
"The trauma they have experienced, especially - we are commemorating right now - is still on their minds.
"So what happened before is not that easy to be forgotten. It will be part of the history."
An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines each year and meteorologists warn the frequency and intensity of future typhoons could increase.
Roderic Salve said aid agencies are preparing to meet this new “future normal” of typhoon season.
“Right now we are doing a lot of training in the community. We have a long-term program where we recruit and train volunteers teaching them what to do in disasters – before and after it. And also giving basic equipment like a whistle, a megaphone, loudspeaker and, of course, a first aid kit.
“We also do some first aid training. Really the first line of defence has to be in the communities where they are the most vulnerable, so they know what to do in the next 72 hours [after a typhoon].”
