One of the most powerful typhoons in history is believed to have killed 1200 people in the Philippines.
RAW FOOTAGE: More than 100 bodies are lying in the streets of a central city ravaged by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Courtesy: Instagram/peroel and Perez Jake Sr
An aerial shot showing devastation wrought by the typhoon in the central Philippines in Iloilo. Picture: Raul Banias/AFP Source: AFP
TORMENTED survivors of a typhoon that is feared to have killed more than 10,000 in the Philippines rummaged for food on Sunday through debris scattered with corpses, while frenzied mobs looted aid convoys.
Haiyan, one of the strongest storms to hit land in recorded history, is now headed toward Vietnam, where it is expected to make landfall south of Hanoi around 7am local time (11am AEDT).
GALLERY: Typhoon Haiyan
RELATED: Vietnam shelters from Typhoon Haiyan
RELATED: Australian typhoon victim named
Desperation as 10,000 feared dead
TORMENTED survivors of a typhoon that may have killed more than 10,000 have been left to rummage for food through debris scattered with corpses.
Joanne Lees almost destroyed case
THE lawyer who prosecuted one of Australia's most notorious killers Bradley John Murdoch reveals the victim's girlfriend almost ruined their case.
For now, though, the focus remains on parts of the Southeast Asian archipelago that have already been flattened by one of the most powerful storms ever recorded, where desperate survival tactics created fresh horrors.
On the outskirts of Tacloban, a coastal eastern city of 220,000 where tsunami-like waves destroyed many buildings, Edward Gualberto accidentally stepped on bodies as he raided the wreckage of a home.
Wearing nothing but a pair of red basketball trousers, the father-of-four and village councillor apologised for his shabby appearance and for stealing from the dead.
Residents try to salvage belongings in Tacloban city in the Philippines. Source: AP
"I am a decent person. But if you have not eaten in three days, you do shameful things to survive," Gualberto said as he dug canned goods from the debris and flies swarmed over the bodies.
"We have no food, we need water and other things to survive."
After half a day's work, he had filled a bag with an assortment of essentials including packs of spaghetti, cans of beer, detergent, soap, canned goods, biscuits and candies.
"This typhoon has stripped us of our dignity... but I still have my family and I am thankful for that."
A house is engulfed by the storm surge brought about by powerful typhoon Haiyan. Source: AFP
Elsewhere in Tacloban, other survivors were employing more aggressive means as they took advantage of a security vacuum created when most of the city's police force failed to turn up for work after the typhoon.
Like Gualberto, many said they had not eaten since the typhoon and overwhelmed authorities admitted they were unable to get enough relief supplies into the city.
Some broke through shops that had withstood the typhoon by hammering through glass windows and winching open steel barricades.
One desperate meat shop owner brandished a handgun in a failed bid to prevent one mob from entering his shop.
He was ignored and the shop was ransacked. The businessman just silently stood by, waving his gun in the air and shouting. When he realised he had lost the fight, he cursed them and walked away.
Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm this year, made landfall in central Philippines. Courtesy: Karen Perez.
Nearby, pastry shop owner Emma Bermejo described the widespread looting as "anarchy".
"There is no security personnel, relief goods are too slow to arrive. People are dirty, hungry and thirsty. A few more days and they will begin to kill each other," she said.
"This is shameful. We have been hit by a catastrophe and now our businesses are gone. Looted. I can understand if they take our food and water, they can have it. But TV sets? Washing machines?"
Philippine Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon described some of the looters as "mobsters", after one of his organisation's convoys was ransacked near Tacloban.
A soldier assists a young girl as villagers are evacuated to a safe place by a military truck in preparation for the arrival of the super typhoon Haiyan in the central province of Quang Nam on November 9, 2013. Vietnam has started evacuating over 100,000 people from the path of Super Typhoon Haiyan, state media said on November 9, 2013, after the storm tore across the Philippines leaving scores dead and devastating communities. AFP PHOTO Source:
Meanwhile, confused men, women and children walked aimlessly along roads strewn with overturned cars and felled power lines, some gagging from the stench of rotting flesh.
A team of military cadaver collectors had been deployed, but the soldiers appeared overwhelmed.
"There are six trucks going around the city picking up the dead, but it's not enough," said the driver of one of the vehicles as it wended its way through the streets.
"There are bodies everywhere, we do not have enough people to get to them."
This picture taken on November 8, 2013 shows fishermen moving a fishing boat from from a beach as part of measures taken by local authorities in preparation for the arrival of the super typhoon Haiyan in the central city of Danang. Vietnam has started evacuating over 100,000 people from the path of Super Typhoon Haiyan, state media said on November 9, 2013, after the storm tore across the Philippines leaving scores dead and devastating communities. AFP PHOTO/Vietnam News Agency Source: AFP
Some survivors handed out small letters to passers-by and reporters asking them to contact their relatives to relay their fate.
Many had wounds on their faces and were limping, while all had stories of unimaginable horror.
"The huge waves came again and again, flushing us out on the street and washing away our homes," said Mirasol Saoyi, 27, near the city's seaside sports stadium that withstood the typhoon and where thousand of people had gathered.
"My husband tied us together, but still we got separated among the debris. I saw many people drowning, screaming and going under... I haven't found my husband."
Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest typhoons in recorded history, has slammed into the Philippines.
The typhoon barreled through six central Philippine islands, wiping away buildings and leveling seaside homes. Most of the deaths and destruction were on Leyte Island, where Tacloban is located.
Regional police chief Elmer Soria said he was briefed by Leyte provincial Gov. Dominic Petilla late on Saturday and told there were about 10,000 deaths on the island, mostly by drowning and from collapsed buildings.
The governor's figure was based on reports from village officials in areas where Typhoon Haiyan slammed Friday.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed the death of a 50-year-old NSW man, who some believe to be former Australian priest Kevin Lee.
Mr Lee, a whistleblower about child sex abuse in the Catholic church, was living in the Philippines with his wife.
Super Typhoon Haiyan is intensifying as it moves towards the islands of the central Philippines.
''The rescue operation is ongoing. We expect a very high number of fatalities as well as injured,'' Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said after visiting Tacloban on Saturday.
"All systems, all vestiges of modern living - communications, power, water - all are down. Media is down, so there is no way to communicate with the people in a mass sort of way."
President Benigno Aquino III said the casualties "will be substantially more" than the official count of 151 as of Sunday - but gave no figure or estimate. He said the government's priority was to restore power and communications in isolated areas to allow for the delivery of relief and medical assistance to victims.
The Philippine Red Cross and its partners were preparing for a major relief effort "because of the magnitude of the disaster," said the agency's chairman, Richard Gordon.
High waves pound the sea wall amid strong winds as Typhoon Haiyan hits the city of Legaspi. Picture: AFP/Charism Sayat Source: AFP
Earlier, a Red Cross official said 1,200 people were estimated to have died in the Philippines in the devastation wrought by the storm.
The Red Cross said that at least 1,000 had been killed in Tacloban and 200 in Samar province. Many of the dead in Tacloban were seen floating on the water, the agency said.
See how the typhoon unfolded yesterday
Following the disaster Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Tony Abbot's government will provide an initial $390,500 in emergency relief supplies to assist affected communities.
Super Typhoon Haiyan moves towards the Philippines across the Pacific Ocean. Picture: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Source: Getty Images
"We're immediately providing pre-positioned emergency supplies, including sleeping mats, blankets, mosquito nets, water containers and health and hygiene kits for families devastated by the typhoon," Ms Bishop said.
She said two Australian disaster experts were already on the ground assisting the Philippine government and the United Nations to conduct a rapid needs assessment of the areas worst affected.
Debris litter the road by the coastal village in Legazpi city which was hit by Typhoon Haiyan. Picture: AP Photo/Nelson Salting Source: AP
The typhoon weakened Sunday as it approached central and northern Vietnam where authorities evacuated more than 500,000 people.
The Red Cross said Haiyan is likely to be a Category 2 or 3 typhoon when it makes landfall in Vietnam, compared to the category 5 storm that hit the Philippines.
Vietnam's state-run VNExpress news site said at least four central coastal provinces were being evacuated.
Flood waters quickly rose in Tacloban, Leyte on Friday morning, as typhoon "Yolanda" made landfall in nearby Guiuan, Eastern Samar at 4:40 a.m.
The army has been mobilised to provide emergency relief with some 170,000 soldiers assisting people after the typhoon hits.
Many schools in the affected area - normally open at the weekends - have closed, as people from vulnerable low-lying coastal villages move to higher ground.
Images in state media showed women, children and the elderly crowded into typhoon shelters.
Roofing iron is blown horizontally through the sky as winds of up to 378km/h blast into Tachloban City in the Philippines. Source: Supplied
Haiyan's wind strength - up to 280km/h - made it one of the four most powerful typhoons ever recorded and the most intense to have made landfall, according to Jeff Masters, the director of meteorology at US-based Weather Underground .
Mr Masters said the previous record for the strongest typhoon to make landfall was Hurricane Camille, which hit Mississippi in the US with sustained winds of 190m/h (306km/h) in 1969.
Australian man Mark Denning told News Corp Australia he and his wife were bunkered down in their hotel room on the tourist island of Boracay as the storm approached.
A satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Typhoon Haiyan over the Philippines. Picture: NOAA Source: News Limited
Mr Denning, who was holidaying on the island for his younger brother's wedding, said beaches were deserted and tourists had retreated to the safety of their hotels.
He said the island was being battered by strong winds and heavy rain and power was intermittent.
Typhoon Haiyan knocked out power and cut communications in the Philippines' central region of island provinces. Picture: AP Photo/Nelson Salting Source: AP
"With the imminent force of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) heading to us in the coming hours we're preparing as best we can within our hotel room. For us it's a packed bag, some water, and a plan to make our mattress into a cubby," he told News Corp via email.
"The Filipino people have been preparing for days, boarding up shops, removing anything that could possibly become a missile. Even trimming coconut trees.
"I'm bunkered down with my wife in Boracay. What started as an idyllic resort island, which played host to my younger brother's wedding, is now turning out to be something quite surreal."
This animation shows of MTSAT satellite data shows the progression of Super Typhoon Haiyan on 7 November as it began moving over the Philippines. Courtesy: University of Wisconsin
Darwin couple Jeremy Kay and Georgina Nefiodovas were also stranded on Boracay Island, having arrived on the weekend.
"At the moment we are unable to leave Boracay as they have stopped all boats leaving the island," Mr Kay told the NT News .
"This means for the next few days we will be staying here bracing ourselves for the weather to come.
"We caught a taxi to the ferry but unfortunately they only had limited boats to go and far too many people wanting to leave so we weren't able to get across."
Residents living near the slopes of Mayon volcano were evacuated to public schools before the powerful typhoon Haiyan hit. Source: Supplied
BATTERED REGION
The Philippines archipelago of more than 7,100 islands is hit by an average of 20 typhoons or tropical storms each year, which kill hundreds and sometimes thousands of people.
The storms are created above the warmer waters of the Pacific Ocean near the equator, and the Philippines' islands are often the first major landmass they hit as they move northwest.
Some government authorities say climate change is increasing the ferocity and frequency of the typhoons. Haiyan is one of the strongest ever recorded in the world, and is the Philippines' 24th tropical storm or typhoon of the year, exceeding the annual average.
However some scientists say it is premature to blame climate change, and the Philippines has endured many devastating typhoons that have each claimed many hundreds of lives.
One of the most intense typhoons ever recorded has torn through the Philippines causing widespread damage.
Here is a look at 10 of the deadliest typhoons on record in the Philippines:
1. Tropical Storm Thelma unleashes flash floods on the central city of Ormoc on Leyte island on November 15, 1991, killing more than 5,100.
2. Typhoon Bopha smashes into the main southern island of Mindanao on December 3, 2012. Rarely hit by major storms, the unprepared region suffers about 1,900 people dead or missing.pe3. Typhoon Ike hits the central Philippines on August 31, 1984, killing 1,363 people.
4. Typhoon Washi hits the northern part of Mindanao island on December 16, 2011, killing at least 1,080 people.
5. Floods and landslides unleashed by Typhoon Trix kill 995 people in the Bicol region of the main island of Luzon on October 16, 1952.
6. Typhoon Amy rakes across the central islands from December 9, 1951, killing 991 people as it unleashed floods and landslides and caused a massive storm surge that destroyed large sections of Negros island's west coast.
7. Storm surges struck the eastern city of Legazpi on November 25, 1987 as Typhoon Nina roared into the Bicol region, where it also unleashed deadly mudslides down Mayon volcano. The disaster caused 979 deaths.
8. Typhoon Fengshen tracked an erratic and destructive path across the central islands and nearby areas from June 20, 2008, killing 938 people.
9. Typhoon Angela, one of the strongest storms to ever hit the Philippines with gusts of up to 260 kilometres an hour, caused carnage in Bicol and later Manila from November 2, 1995, killing 936 people.
10. Typhoon Agnes struck the central islands from November 5, 1984, killing 895 people.
