JCB donates $500k worth of backhoes, generators to Philippines typhoon recovery efforts

Updated Nov 15, 2013
Courtesy: JCBCourtesy: JCB

JCB has announced that it will send more than $500,000 worth of heavy equipment and generators to aid in the recovery efforts in the wake of the typhoon that hit the Philippines.

Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippine coast on Friday and swept across six of the country’s islands, displacing millions. The initial death toll estimate was 10,000, but that number was revised down recently to around 2,500.

JCB is sending three 3CX backhoes and 120 electrical generators to assist in the cleanup and recovery efforts.

“The human suffering and scenes of devastation in the Philippines have been heart-rending and I hope JCB’s contribution to the relief effort will help, in some small way, those who are bearing the brunt of this disaster,” said JCB Chairman Lord Anthony Bamford in a prepared statement. “One of the main challenges facing rescue workers is clearing roads in the affected areas and the JCB backhoe is exactly the right machine for the job of removing debris.”

JCB also sent a fleet of 3CX backhoe loaders after Typhoon Reming hit the Philippines’ Bicol region in 2006.