Mike and Regina Sculley are providing food and shelter for nearly 30 victims of Super Typhoon Hiyan. (Eric Guzman/Stars and Stripes)

CLARK AIR BASE, Philippines — A large pile of rubber flip-flops outside the front door of Air Force veteran Mike Sculley’s apartment provides a clue to the fate of two dozen Typhoon Haiyan survivors.

Sculley, whose wife Regina grew up in a small fishing village a 45-minute drive from the devastated city of Tacloban, has opened his home near Clark Air Base to the homeless evacuees, including 13 children.

The couple rescued the villagers after Regina and employees from the couple’s two restaurants drove a van packed with rice, water and candy 600 miles into the heart of the disaster zone last week.

Mike, 62, who served at Clark in 1975-78 and 1987-90, stayed home. But the Muskegon, Mich., native soon had his work cut out getting ready for the new arrivals by renting the apartment next door and buying extra mattresses, pillows, blankets, towels and toothbrushes.

For several days after the typhoon struck Nov. 8, the Sculleys, who were married in August, worried about relatives in Regina’s home village of McArthur Leyte, south of Tacloban. It wasn’t until Regina’s brother found a place with cell phone reception that they got word everyone was alive.

Fear of the typhoon was quickly replaced by concerns about food, water and crime.

Mike recalls his wife saying: “We have to do something. We can’t rely on the government.”

Determined to rescue her family, Regina decided to take a van to Leyte and bring back as many people as possible.

From Angeles City, it took two days to drive to Tacloban, which involved taking a ferry to Samar island and crossing the San Juanico Bridge to Leyte.

The group paused at the bridge because they’d heard of shootings and car-jacking in the area. When they arrived at McArthur Leyte last Thursday afternoon, Regina didn’t recognize her hometown.

“A lot of trees had fallen and there were no more houses,” she said.

Children ran toward the van, asking for help. Then Regina saw her mother.

“That moment was very emotional,” she said. “I hugged her and told her: ‘Mom, I thought you were all dead.’ ”

The ride home was long and slow since the 12-seat van had 27 people packed inside like sardines. The worst part was driving through Tacloban, Regina said.

“I saw old ladies and kids begging for food,” she said. “It really got to me, but the driver told me we can’t stop because we would be in danger.”

Dead bodies were visible. Dazed survivors wandered the streets. Looting had broken out, and there had been a mass escape from the nearby jail.

“We could smell the stench even with all the windows rolled up and the doors locked,” Regina said.

Mike was overjoyed when he got a call from his wife reporting that everyone was safely out of the disaster zone.

“Then it sunk in that all these people were coming to live in our house,” he said.

Three days after the van reached the couple’s home, the survivors were still living there and in the apartment next door.

Among them was Jeann Balosca, 16, a high school senior who saw her school destroyed a few months short of graduation. After surviving on rice and canned goods dropped by helicopters in the days after the typhoon, her goal now is to graduate and find a job in Angeles City.

Many of the Sculleys’ restaurant staff are from Leyte. Before the typhoon, the workers sent money home to support their families; now they’re supporting them in their own homes, Mike said.

Churches in Angeles City are also helping survivors, and the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post has been housing the families of veterans evacuated from the disaster, he said.

The couple said they can afford to support the survivors in their home for another month. After that, the future is uncertain.

robson.seth@stripes.com Twitter: @SethRobson1

Mike and Regina Sculley are providing food and shelter for nearly 30 victims of Super Typhoon Hiyan. (Eric Guzman/Stars and Stripes)

Mike and Regina Sculley are providing food and shelter for nearly 30 victims of Super Typhoon Hiyan. (Eric Guzman/Stars and Stripes)

Mike and Regina Sculley are providing food and shelter for nearly 30 victims of Super Typhoon Hiyan. (Eric Guzman/Stars and Stripes)

Regina Sculley drove a van to Tacloban, Philippines and saved nearly 30 people from the effects of Super Typhoon Haiyan. (Eric Guzman/Stars and Stripes)

A victim of Super Typhoon Haiyain catches some fresh air at an apartment in Clark, Philippines provided by Mike and Regina Sculley. (Eric Guzman/Stars and Stripes)

Mike and Regina Sculley are providing food and shelter for nearly 30 victims of Super Typhoon Hiyan. (Eric Guzman/Stars and Stripes)