IT was one of the strongest storms ever ­recorded, and it ­devastated the lives of thousands of people in the Philippines.

With the death toll now sitting at 5500 and still ­rising, it has been a race against time to get the vital supplies out to those struck by Typhoon Haiyan.

As one of the many ­volunteers who have ­journeyed to the stricken country, Katy Martin, from Paisley, describes conditions in the worst-hit areas as like the aftermath of a "tsunami".

Working with a team of three, she had the massive job of setting up an aid ­distributions warehouse to help co-ordinate the British Red Cross aid effort.

The main challenge was to co-ordinate getting food, shelter and clean water to the worst affected areas, firstly by getting tankers of water and supplies to their warehouse in the city of Cebu, and then on to those in need in eastern areas such as Tacloban and Ormoc.

Katy, who was speaking to the Scottish Red Cross HQ in Glasgow via a Skype link, said: "So far we're clearing about nine trucks a day from the airport to the warehouse, so things are starting to move a lot faster.

"We arrived here as a team of four and in the first week we were able to establish a warehouse which was given to us by the Philippine Red Cross that had been empty for three or four years. We were able to establish power and we're working on getting running water.

"We basically have a ­fully-operating operations centre and warehouse which started as an empty shell less than three weeks ago. That has been a real mind-blowing fact to be honest.

"In the first few days we were having very limited sleep, but things are starting to improve slightly, but the level of work is still very high."

The 31-year-old, who is a senior community fund-raiser for the British Red Cross in her day-to-day life, signed up to be part of the charity's emergency ­response unit (ERU).

After a year of rigorous training, Katy went on call) on November 1, and only nine days later, was posted out to the Philippines on her first international duty. Now, she is part of the team which helps distribute relief items, such as shelter kits, to more than 30,000 families and between 30,000 and 90,000 litres of water every day, often working up to 19 hours a day.

Further challenges are faced daily: only this week, her bed felt like it had "lifted from the floor and fell back down again" in an aftershock from an earthquake in the Bohol region of the country.

Katy said: "In some areas, they are moving into recovery stage, although the relief effort is still continuing in the hardest hit areas.

"This is going to be a long-term programme and it's not something that anyone can see from this stage how long that would take.

"It's not going to be a Christmas that they are used to for certain.

"I think by then, hopefully things will have improved, but certainly it won't be back to any form of real normality in certain areas such as Tacloban and Ormoc."

Scotland has already contributed more than £4 million, however there is much more work and support needed for those who have been injured or lost their homes and loved ones in the disaster.

Katy, who is coming home on December 10, ­added: "I'm proud of the amount Scotland has raised for this appeal already.

"I think the support from our donors and from the general public has been huge.

"I'd encourage people to be generous if they haven't already because there's a lot of work to be done and it's very much appreciated over here."