Typhoon Haiyan Death Toll Tops 10,000, According To Official Estimates
One of the most powerful storms ever recorded killed at least 10,000 people in the central Philippines, a senior police official said on Sunday, with huge waves sweeping away coastal villages and devastating one of the main cities in the region. ● Super typhoon Haiyan destroyed about 70 to 80 percent of structures in its path as it tore through Leyte province on Friday, said police chief superintendent Elmer Soria, before weakening and heading west for Vietnam. As rescue workers struggled to reach ravaged villages along the coast, where the death toll is as yet unknown, survivors foraged for food or searched for lost loved ones. Most of the deaths appear to have been caused by surging sea water strewn with debris that many said resembled a tsunami, levelling houses and drowning hundreds of people in one of the worst disasters to hit the typhoon-prone Southeast Asian nation. The national government and disaster agency have not confirmed the latest estimate of deaths, a sharp increase from initial estimates on Saturday of at least 1,200 killed by a storm whose sustained winds reached 195 miles per hour (313 km per hour) with gusts of up to 235 mph (378 kph).
The New Yorker: Slide Show: Typhoon Haiyan’s Devastation - Photos
Associated Press: Amid gruesome typhoon scenes, aid trickles in - Photos
CNN: 'Worse than hell' in typhoon-ravaged Philippines - Photos
The Guardian: Enormous aid effort begins in regions devastated by typhoon Haiyan
The Times of India: Philippines struggles to help desperate victims
PressTV: Philippine typhoon death toll exceeds 10,000
BBC: Philippines destruction 'absolute bedlam'