Super Typhoon Haiyan: '10,000 Could Be Dead'

At least 10,000 people are thought to have been killed in the Philippine city of Tacloban by Typhoon Haiyan, officials believe.

The national government and disaster agency have yet to confirm the fatalities, a sharp increase from initial estimates on Saturday of at least 1,000 deaths.

A further 300 are confirmed dead with 2,000 missing in the neighbouring island of Samar.

Coastal villages in Leyte were flattened, or swallowed by the storm surge

If the death toll estimate by government officials is confirmed, it would be the deadliest natural catastrophe on record in the Philippines.

Up to 4.3million people are said to have been directly affected by the typhoon's path and the death toll is expected to rise further as rescuers reach cut off areas.

Up to 70-80% of homes have been destroyed in Tacloban and other areas in the typhoon's path, according to Justin Morgan of Oxfam.

A child is returned home after leaving an evacuation site in Tacloban

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas said: "From a helicopter, you can see the extent of devastation. From the shore and moving a kilometre inland, there are no structures standing. It was like a tsunami.

"I don't know how to describe what I saw. It's horrific."

Most of the dead are understood to have drowned or were crushed by collapsed buildings. Many corpses hung on tree branches, buildings and in the roads.

Shivering children wait ito be evacuated from a rescue centre in the city

"On the way to the airport we saw many bodies along the street," said Philippine-born Australian Mila Ward, 53, who was waiting at the Tacloban airport to catch a military flight back to Manila.

"They were covered with just anything - tarpaulin, roofing sheets, cardboards," she said. Asked how many, she said, "Well over 100 where we passed."

But the destruction extended well beyond Tacloban, a city of 200,000. Officials are yet to make contact with Guiuan, a town of 40,000 that was first hit by the typhoon.

A woman about to give birth is carried into a medical centre at Tacloban

Baco, a city of 35,000 people in Oriental Mindoro province, was 80 percent under water, the UN said.

The Philippines has limited resources on its own to deal with a disaster of this magnitude, say experts.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has directed the military's Pacific Command to deploy ships and aircraft to support search-and-rescue operations and airlift emergency supplies.

But the command is headquartered in Hawaii, with one carrier group current in port in Hong Kong, so it is thought it will be some days before it reaches the affected area.

Residents beside a road littered with debris

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told Philippine president Benigno Aquino: "We stand ready to contribute with urgent relief and assistance if so required in this hour of need."

Haiyan was one of the strongest tropical storms ever to have made landfall, lashing the Philippines with wind gusts of 275kph (170mph) and whipping up a storm surge which swallowed coastal towns and villages.

Although the cyclone has weakened, there are fears that many could be affected when it next makes landfall in Vietnam later today.

A pregnant woman cooks a meal inside a building overlooking Tacloban

Nearly a million people were evacuated from central provinces before the path of Haiyan turned further north.

It is now expected to be a category one typhoon, with winds gusting up to 95mph when it reaches the tourist area of Halong Bay, not far from the capital Hanoi, at about 8pm on Sunday.

The typhoon is also expected to pass very close to the Chinese island of Hainan.

Tacloban, a city of 220,000 people south of Manila, bore the brunt of Haiyan in the Philippines. Bodies have been seen floating in roads covered with debris from fallen trees, tangled power lines and flattened homes.

In Vietnam villagers are evacuated in preparation for the arrival of Haiyan

"The dead are on the streets, they are in their houses, they are under the debris, they are everywhere," said Tecson John Lim, a Tacloban city administrator.

Among those feared dead is an Australian ex-priest Kevin Lee, who moved to the Philippines after blowing the whistle on abuse in the Catholic Church in his home country, it has been reported.

The previous deadliest disaster to hit the Philippines was in 1976, when a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake killed between 5,000 and 8,000 people.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Super Typhoon Haiyan: '10,000 Could Be Dead'

Dengan url

http://badutjayus.blogspot.com/2013/11/super-typhoon-haiyan-10000-could-be-dead.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Super Typhoon Haiyan: '10,000 Could Be Dead'

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Super Typhoon Haiyan: '10,000 Could Be Dead'

sebagai sumbernya