International relief efforts have begun after the Haiyan Typhoon caused huge devastation the Philippines. Its estimated that at least 10,000 people have died. Read more via the Guardian.
According to UN figures more than 330,000 people were displaced by the storm, and 4.3m affected by it.
And some news via Reuters
Super typhoon Haiyan destroyed about 70 to 80 percent of the area in its path as it tore through Leyte province on Friday, said police chief superintendent Elmer Soria.
As rescue workers struggled to reach ravaged villages along the coast, where the death toll is as yet unknown, survivors foraged for food as supplies dwindled or searched for lost loved ones.
“People are walking like zombies looking for food,” said Jenny Chu, a medical student in Leyte. “It’s like a movie.”
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 natural disasters to hit the typhoon-prone Southeast Asian nation…
“We had a meeting last night with the governor and the other officials. The governor said, based on their estimate, 10,000 died,” Soria told Reuters. “The devastation is so big.” More than 330,900 people were displaced and 4.3 million “affected” by the typhoon in 36 provinces, the U.N.’s humanitarian agency said, as relief agencies called for food, water and tarpaulins for the homeless.
Residents cover their nose from the smell of dead bodies in Tacloban city. Photograph: Bullit Marquez/AP
