>>Why can't military helicopters fly food/water to those people?<<
That's MY question. If the responders allow these people to die of starvation/dehydration/disease, etc...
WHAT THE ---????
Range and payloads,
To deliver enough for everyone you have to have flown in, most of the helos on site aren't made to deliver these supplies and those helos that can are on the way via ship with all sorts of supplies. Once they get with in range they can deliver payloads.
The longer a helo has to fly the lighter the load it can carry, simple math.