Approximately 10,000 people may have died in one particular area of the Philippines after being hit by Typhoon Haiyan, which is one of the worst storms ever recorded.
The storm has destroyed schools, homes and an airport which is located in the eastern city of Tacloban. The neighboring island of Samar was also badly affected with reports of 2000 people missing and 300 people dead, with nearly 400 being buried in mass graves. So far the Philippines government has confirmed the deaths of 3600 people in the country with hundreds of thousands people being left homeless It was reported that Tacloban, the capital of Leyte province, has been devastated by the storm with survivors currently waiting for aid. The storm flattened the houses in Tacloban and left the area with no electricity, no clean water and there is very little food. City officials are struggling to distribute the aid which they have already received.
International donors have been asked by the World Food Program to donate food for the Philippines. Mar Roxas who is the Philippines interior secretary said that the scale of the relief operation that is required is overwhelming. Some places have been described as wasteland of debris and mud, with the extent of the devastation clearly being seen from a helicopter. Elmer Soria, the police chief , said that about 70% to 80% of the area was destroyed. There had been a 3m water surge through the city which left no buildings for around a kilometer inland.
Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, a UN official, arrived in Tacloban on Saturday He told the BBC that vehicles were thrown up against the walls, telegraph poles were down and roads were blocked. The associated press was told by Tecson Lim, the city administrator of Tacloban , that the death toll in the city could go up to around 10000. The police chief also said that the most deaths were from collapsed buildings and drowning.
Andrew Pomedo who is a high school teacher told the AFP news agency that people are starving and Tacloban with widespread mourning for the loss of family members. Leo Dacaynos, who is an official in eastern Samar province, told the local radio that 300 people were found dead in a single town. After typhoon Haiyan in Philippines, more than 700 online volunteers emerged who have collaborated to provide the rescue workers with quality maps of areas in Philippines which have been hit by typhoon Haiyan. There has been new satellite imagery for tracing infrastructure, buildings, areas and natural features as well as mapping the current state of Tacloban city area after heavy damage was inflected by Typhoon Haiyan.
The British ship HMS Daring arrived in the Philippines to aid Typhoon Haiyan victims today. The crew have been analysing the area in preparation to distribute the supplies which are part of the British Governments £50M aid, with a public appeal raising a further 30m.