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Typhoon Haiyan feared to have killed TEN THOUSAND Filipinos as Vietnam and China now prepare for the worst
- Typhoon Haiyan was a maximum category-five storm with ground winds of up to 235mph
- Red Cross today estimates 1,200 people have been killed, 1,000 of those in the city of Tacloban, Leyte
- Around four million people are said to have been affected, according to the the country’s national disaster agency
- Bodies were seen floating in flooded streets with rescue workers saying the aftermath was similar to the 2004 Tsunami
- 800,000 evacuated before gales whipped up 19ft waves that battered the islands of Leyte and Samar
- Storm has now passed majority of the islands and is set to move inland towards Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China
- Hundreds of thousands of people in South East Asia have been evacuated and moved to shelters
- 170,000 Vietnamese soldiers are brought in as aid agencies predict 6.5 million people will be affected
- Thousands of British nationals are thought to have been left stranded by the ferocious weather
- Britain has pledged £6 million in aid and US Secretary of State John Kerry has said America ‘stands ready to help’
- UN says 2.5 million people are in need of food aid and UNICEF have estimated 1.5 million children live in affected areas
- Weather forecasts have also predicted that high winds and rain could return to the Philippines on Monday
By LIZZIE EDMONDS and WILLS ROBINSON
PUBLISHED: 09:59 GMT, 9 November 2013 | UPDATED: 01:59 GMT, 10 November 2013
The death toll from one of the most powerful storms on record could reach 10,000 according to officials.
So far Typhoon Haiyan is said to have killed 1,200 people in the Philippines and left many more injured, but the figure could rise dramatically after the full devastation of the ferocious storm was realised.
According to the Red Cross, 1,000 have been left dead in the devastated city of Tacloban on the island of Leyte with a further 200 casualties in Samar Province.
Regional police chief Elmer Soria said he was briefed by Leyte provincial Govenor Dominic Petilla late last night and told there were about 10,000 deaths on the island, mostly by drowning and from collapsed buildings.
About four million people are believed to have been affected by the category five storm, according to the country’s national disaster agency. This figure includes 800,000 who had to be evacuated before the storm struck.
Loss: A mother weeps beside the dead body of her son at a chapel in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban
Operation: A Vietnamese soldier carries a young girl from a lorry as villagers are evacuated to a safe place by the military
Braced: Residents in Phu Yen, Vietnam, prepare sandbags in preparation for the storm which is expected to reach the coast on Sunday morning
Strengthen: Soldiers and workers reinforce a dyke with weather experts predicting sea surges to hit the Vietnamese coast
Bolster: Troops help prepare a house for the arrival of typhoon Haiyan at a village in the central province of Quang Tri
Desolation: This picture shows an flattened area of the destroyed Tacloban city covered by debris and flood water
Winds of up to 235mph and gusts of 170mph left a trail of destruction – triggering major landslides, knocking out power and communications and causing catastrophic widespread damage. Hundreds of homes have been flattened and scores of streets flooded.
The storm is now moving towards mainland Asian and is expected to reach Vietnam coastal areas on Sunday morning while humanitarian experts estimate the number of casualties will rise considerably.
Weather forecasts have also predicted more bad weather could be on the way to the Philippines at the beginning of next week, with high winds expected to arrive on Monday.
The Foreign Office in the Philippines’ capital Manila has had no reports of British casualties but it is feared thousands have been left stranded as a result.
About 15,000 British nationals are said to live on the islands and every year 65,000 visit tourist hotspots like northern Cebu Province and Boracay Island, both of which have been savaged by the storm.
