Starvation and fear in the land laid waste by 200mph typhoon that killed at least 10,000

Some are saying that this storm was strengthened with microwave pulses.

Daily Mail

Desperate survivors of the devastating Philippines typhoon told how they had to steal from the dead to eat.

In the worst-hit areas, 235mph winds created 20ft waves that are thought to have killed between 10,000 and 15,000 and left 500,000 homeless after their houses were reduced to splinters.  

Super-typhoon Haiyan struck with such force on Friday that entire villages were flattened, ships were swept inland and corpses were left hanging from trees.

Trail of destruction: Those who escaped the awesome power of Haiyan now face a grim battle to rebuild their lives among the sprawling wreckage

An aerial shot from a Philippines Air Force helicopter shows the devastation left by typhoon Haiyan in Guiuan, Eastern Samar province, central Philippines

 

Blown inland: A ship lies among the ruins of a built-up area of Tacloban after the vessel was swept inland. This photograph was taken by the Philippines Air Force

This aerial shot shows destroyed houses on Victory Island near the town of Guiuan in Eastern Samar province, central Philippines

A battered town in Samar province in central Philippines. Dazed survivors  begged for help and scavenged for food, water and medicine on Monday, threatening to overwhelm military and rescue resources

Ships that washed ashore into a coastal community after Typhoon Haiyan hit the province of Leyte in central Philippines

US Marines stack gear onto a pallet during preparations for disaster relief for the Philippines at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan

City of the dead: Dazed survivors survey the damaged houses in Tacloban city, Leyte province. At least 10,000 people are believed to have died there

Force of nature: One of the many ships that have been swept into Tacloban by the power of the typhoon

Even as families began to grieve for their dead, they faced a grim battle to find shelter and forage for food and clean water.

Dazed survivors walked the streets ‘like zombies looking for food’ while looters ransacked shops and mobs attacked aid trucks loaded with food, tents and water.

Reports of lawless gangs targeting ATMs and electrical shops forced President Benigno Aquino to deploy police and army troops to the area to restore calm.

He said: ‘Tonight, a column of armoured vehicles will be arriving in Tacloban to show the government’s resolve and to stop this looting.’

Many areas were left without clean water, electricity or food and relief workers said some regions were still cut off by the damage and debris following what could be the most powerful storm ever recorded.

The death toll may soar once the true extent of the damage is known.

 

21-year old Philippine woman gives birth in midst of typhoon

 

Desperate measures: A Filipino father and his children wait for food relief outside their makeshift tent. Survivors have foraged for food as supplies dwindled, with some uncovering the bodies of the dead

Britain has pledged more than £6million in aid and support, but survivors said relief efforts were being overwhelmed.

In the province of Leyte, 10,000 are feared to have died in Tacloban, 580km (360 miles) southeast of Manila, where survivors said waves hit their homes ‘like a tsunami’, destroying everything.

Reports from one town showed apocalyptic scenes of destruction in another region that has not been reached by rescue workers or the armed forces.

‘The situation is bad, the devastation has been significant. In some cases the devastation has been total,’ Secretary to the Cabinet Rene Almendras told a news conference.

The United Nations said officials in Tacloban, which bore the brunt of the storm on Friday, had reported one mass grave of 300-500 bodies.

Survivors in Tacloban told reporters they are so desperate for food that they have been forced to loot shops and steal from the dead

Action: President Benigno Aquino has deployed troops to the area in a bid to restore calm after Philippines Red Cross aid trucks were attacked by hungry mobs

More than 600,000 people were displaced by the storm across the country and some have no access to food, water, or medicine, the UN says.

Flattened by surging waves and monster winds up to 235 mph (378 kph), Tacloban was relying almost entirely for supplies and evacuation on just three military transport planes flying from nearby Cebu city.

Dozens of residents clamoured for help at the airport gates.

‘Help us, help us. Where is President Aquino? We need water, we are very thirsty,’ shouted one woman. ‘When are you going to get bodies from the streets?’

Haiyan is estimated to have destroyed about 70 to 80 percent of structures in its path as it tore into the coastal provinces of Leyte and Samar. The damage to the coconut- and rice-growing region was expected to amount to more than 3 billion pesos ($69 million), Citi Research said in a report, with ‘massive losses’ for private property.

Most of the damage and deaths were caused by huge waves that inundated towns and swept away coastal villages in scenes that officials likened to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Bodies litter the streets of the Tacloban, rotting and swelling under the hot sun and adding to the health risk.

International aid agencies said relief resources in the Philippines were stretched thin after a 7.2 magnitude quake in central Bohol province last month and displacement caused by a conflict with Muslim rebels in southern Zamboanga province.

Teacher Andrew Pomeda, 36, added: ‘Tacloban is totally destroyed. Some people are losing their minds from hunger or losing their families. People are becoming violent.

‘I am afraid that in one week, people will be killing from hunger.’ Mirasol Saoyi, 27, said: ‘The huge waves came again and again, flushing us out on the street and washing away our homes.

 

Super typhoon Haiyan slams through Tacloban City, Philippines

Aftermath: Resident gather in the remains of a structure in Tacloban. Those left homeless have been forced to plunder the houses belonging to the dead. One local councillor admitted he has stepped on corpses in a desperate bid to find food saying: ‘If you have not eaten in three days, you do shameful things to survive’

Remains: Survivors have begun find corpses as they rummage through the wreckages of houses in a bid to find food to feed their starving families

Making do: Survivors have been forced to forage for food and supplies after many homes were submerged by flood water and landslides

‘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.’

Despite mass burials, the dead remain piled by roads and trapped under wreckage. Families clawing at the ruins to find survivors or food were overpowered by the reek of the rotting bodies.

Village councillor and father-of-four Edward Gualberto said he stepped on corpses as he took food from the remains of their homes.

He added: ‘I am a decent person. But if you have not eaten in three days, you do shameful things to survive. We have no food, we need water. This typhoon has stripped us of our dignity, but I still have my family and I am grateful for that.’

The Philippines president is considering introducing martial law in Tacloban city (pictured), where up to 10,000 people are feared dead

Holy house: Churches in the storm torn city have become temporary aid centres offering washing facilities and handing out emergency food supplies

Shelter from the storm: While the Catholic church in Tacloban has welcomed victims, many buildings have been broken into by desperate looters

Medical student Jenny Chu said families had gone without food and water for days, saying: ‘People are walking like zombies looking for food. It’s like a movie.’

Survivors queued for handouts of rice, covering their faces with rags to keep the stench of death out.

Shopkeepers said looters forced their way into stores that had survived the storm, only to be ransacked. There were reports of ATM machines being broken open.

Soldiers are trying to restore order but pastry shop owner Emma Bermejo said: ‘People are dirty, hungry and thirsty. A few more days and they will begin to kill each other. 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?’

This image taken by astronaut Karen L. Nyberg and released by NASA shows Super Typhoon Haiyan from the International Space Station yesterday

One young mother fought tears as she told how the typhoon killed 11 members of her family, including her two-year-old daughter.

Jenny Dela Cruz, who is eight months pregnant, added: ‘All we can do is survive the day, but I don’t know what will happen tomorrow or the day after – or if we can continue surviving.’

The storm was last night expected to hit Vietnam, where up to 700,000 people have been evacuated.

The UN has said that  2.5m people are in need of food aid in the Philippine and UNICEF have estimated 1.5 m children live in affected areas.

A team of about 90 U.S. Marines and sailors have been dispatched to the Philippines on Sunday, part of a first wave of promised American military assistance for relief efforts.

Washing still hangs on the lines but dozens of bamboo houses have been flattened by the storm in Baladian in the municipality of Concepcion, Iloilo Province

Loss: A mother weeps beside the dead body of her son at a chapel in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel this weekend has ordered the U.S. military’s Pacific Command to assist with search and rescue operations and provide air support in the wake of super typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded.

The Marines said a team of U.S. forces from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade left for the Philippines from a U.S. base in Okinawa, Japan, aboard two KC-130J Hercules transport aircraft.

Today, survivors queued in lines, waiting for hand-outs of rice and water. Some covered their faces with rags in a futile attempt to keep out the stench of the dead.

Others trekked for three hours to reach the airport in the hope of evacuation. Roads to and from the city were left impassable by debris and fallen trees.

Authorities in the city estimated 10,000 people were killed – almost one in 20 of its 220,000 population.

Twelve ship crew hauled to land as ship hit by Typhoon Haiyan

A ship was washed ashore in the huge storm. Surging sea water strewed debris for miles and survivors said the devastation was like a tsunami

The storm is one of the most powerful ever recorded and huge waves swept away entire coastal villages and destroyed up to 80 per cent of the area in its path

Thousands more were reported missing in neighbouring Samar province and almost half a million people were left homeless, according to the national disaster agency.

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said the devastation was overwhelming, adding: ‘It’s really horrific. It’s a great human tragedy.’

Typhoon Haiyan was expected to hit Vietnam tonight and authorities have evacuated almost 700,000 people from their homes, although the winds were said to have weakened significantly.

Mass burials are underway in Tacloban but hundreds of bodies remain piled along roads and pinned under debris.

More than 330,900 people were displaced and 4.3million ‘affected’ by the typhoon in 36 provinces, the UN has said

Residents try to salvage belongings in Tacloban city, Leyte province. Rescuers have not even been able to contact some towns on the coast where the storm first hit

Villagers walk past a body of victim laying on a pier in the super typhoon devastated city of Tacloban, Leyte province

Aerial photographs revealed scenes of utter devastation with few buildings left standing.

Among the tragic images that were emerging was the sight of a distressed man carrying the body of his drowned six-year-old daughter.

One young mother fought back tears as she told how the typhoon had killed 11 members of her family, including her two-year-old daughter.

Jenny Dela Cruz, who is eight months pregnant, told the BBC: ‘I can’t think, I don’t know what to do.

‘Right now all we can do is survive the day but I don’t know what will happen tomorrow or the day after that, or if we can continue surviving.’

This afternoon, Typhoon Haiyan – believed to be the strongest storm to ever hit land – made landfall in Sanya in south China’s Hainan province

Workers remove a tree that fell onto a car during the deadly storm, which is the 30th typhoon to strike China this year

Bodies have been seen floating down the streets and hanging from trees, cars lying upside down and houses reduced to a pile of soggy mud and brick.

Eastern islands and the centre of the Philippines were battered by winds in excess of 200mph.

This afternoon, Haiyan made landfall in Sanya in south China’s Hainan province.

The typhoon, which is the 30th to hit China this year, is now making its way towards Vietnam and mainland China – with locals bracing themselves for the onslaught of the deadly storm.

Chinese authorities have issued a level three emergency response throughout the country, ordering fisherman to shelter their boats to prevent any damage.

As well as the massive numbers feared dead in Tacloban, there are concerns hundreds more have been killed in remote coastal areas.

The typhoon is now making its way towards Vietnam and mainland China – with locals bracing themselves for the onslaught of the deadly typhoon

Heavy winds had already caused damage to China’s Hainan island before the super typhoon made landfall. Above, a billboard is blown over by the strong winds

Because communications were cut, the number killed might not be known for several days, but from numerous towns and villages across the country today, the shocking figures began to reach rescue centres – including a report from Basey town on Samar Island that 300 were confirmed dead and another 2,000 were missing.

On the island of Leyte, regional governor Dominic Petilla reported that the deaths there were mostly caused by drowning and collapsed buildings.

Mr Leo Dacaynos of the provincial disaster office on Samar Island said yesterday that the storm surge resulted in sea waters rising to 20ft, totally submerging small towns and villages.

The flood waters were still preventing rescuers from reaching parts of the island, said Mr Dacaynos, and mobile towers had been destroyed, making communication difficult.

A man carries boxes of milk as he passes by ships washed ashore by enormous waves in Tacloban city, Leyte province

One survivor said the scenes of utter devastation caused by the typhoon was ‘like the end of the world’

Aid agencies have made emergency appeals for funds and are trying to reach survivors who are in desperate need of clean water and shelter

Bodies still lie in the roads and thousands of homes lie destroyed near the fish port after super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city

In Tacloban city, which has a population of 200,000 some 360 miles south east of Manila – it was feared the death toll would be very high, although Interior Secretary Max Roxas, who arrived there at the weekend, said it was too early to know how many people had died there.

‘We expect a very high number of fatalities as well as injured,’ he said.

‘All systems, all vestiges of modern living – communications, power, water, all are down. Radios are down so there is no way to communicate with the people in a mass sort of way.’

Capt John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority, said he had received reliable information by radio from his staff that more than 100 bodies were lying in the streets of Tacloban.

The city’s airport was described as looking like a muddy wasteland filled with debris that included buckled tin roofs and overturned cars.

Typhoon Haiyan makes landfall in northern Vietnam

Local and foreign medical teams prepare to board a Philippines air force C-130 transport plane in Manila

Survivors walk towards the evacuation center to get relief goods after super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city, central Philippines

City administrators in Tacloban said about 400 bodies have been collected so far but said the death toll in the city alone could be 10,000

A girl looks out from a makeshift shelter in Tacloban. The World Food Programme said it was airlifting 40 tonnes of high-energy biscuits to the region

A woman holds her umbrella stands on debris of houses in Tacloban. Millions of people are believed to have been ‘affected’ by the storm, including hundreds of thousands who have lost their homes

Airport manager Efren Nagrama, 47, said water levels rose up to 13 feet.

‘It was like a tsunami. We escaped through the windows and I held on to a pole for about an hour as rain, seawater and wind swept through the airport,’ he said.

‘Some of my staff survived by clinging to trees. I prayed hard all throughout until the water subsided.’

Mila Ward, 53, a Philippine-born Australian, said that as she travelled to the airport to catch a military flight back to Manila ‘we saw may bodies along the street.

‘They were covered with just anything – tarpaulin, roofing sheets, cardboard.There would have been well over 100 bodies along the way.’

Children pull sacks of goods they recovered from abandoned stores as they go past the rubble of houses in Tacloban

A woman mourns in front of her husband’s dead body, which lies no the street under tarpaulin alongside other bodies

An injured Filipino boy stands in front of the rubble of houses in Tacloban – destroyed by the typhoon that has left thousands of people dead

A man with an injured leg is carried through the devastation of former residential roads in Tacloban

Adding to the misery of people who were forced to flee their homes from the approaching storm were reports last night that looters were raiding houses, grocery stores and petrol stations that were still standing.

‘When I saw those big waves coming in I immediately told my neighbours to flee,’ said Floremil Mazo, a villager in south east Davao Oriental province.

The National Disaster Agency said that up to four million people in the country of 96million were affected by the storm – the worst to ever hit land – by losing their homes, having their possessions damaged and, in extreme cases, losing their lives.

‘The devastation is… I don’t have the words for it,’ said Interior Secretary Roxas. ‘It’s really horrific. It’s a great human tragedy.’

Tecson John Lim, the Tacloban city administrator, said city officials had so far only collected 300 to 400 bodies, but believed the death toll in the city alone could be 10,000.

Operation: A Vietnamese soldier carries a young girl from a lorry as villagers are evacuated to a safe place by the military

Desolation: This picture shows an flattened area of the destroyed Tacloban city covered by debris and flood water

Flattened: A Filipino boy stands among the debris in Tacloban, Leyte – one of the worst areas hit by category five storm Typhoon Haiyan

Death: It has been estimated by the Red Cross that 1,000 of the 1,200 people killed by the typhoon were residents of Tacloban

Widespread: This picture shows acres of flooded rice fields in the Iloilo Province, another area devastated by the typhoon

The storm was expected to hit the coast of Vietnam tomorrow, people there have been were warned that before heading for community shelters they had to bring enough food and necessities to last for three days.

And those who did not move from their homes voluntarily would be forced, said the government.

The World Food Programme said it was airlifting 40 tonnes of high-energy biscuits, enough to feed 120,000 people for a day, to the Philippines, as well as emergency supplies and telecommunications equipment.

Plans: An elderly woman is taken from her home in Danang, Vietnam, as the government begins to evacuate 100,000 people lying in the path of typhoon Haiyan

From above: An aerial view shows badly damaged houses, including many without a roof, and blocked roads in the Philippine province of Iloilo

Recovery: A child is lifted to safety from a house in Tacloban, left, and two residents sit on the pavement in front of their home in the same city, right

Officials in China, as well as neighbouring Laos and Cambodia are currently taking precautions in an attempt to soften the impact of the ferocious storm.

Humanitarian experts say they expect the number of casualties to be ‘massive’. A Red Cross spokesman said: ‘We now fear that thousands will have lost their lives.’

The UK has sent a team of three experts to the country today to assess the extent of the damage, after which the Government will decide upon its response, a spokesman for the Department for International Development (Dfid) said.

Flattened: The typhoon has ravaged most of the city of Tacloban and destroyed the airport

 

Ruins: A resident sifts through rubbish inside his ruined home, flattened by 235mph winds in the devastated city of Tacloban

 

Scale: This image shows the enormous Typhoon Haiyan taken by Astronaut Karen L. Nyberg aboard the Internatioal Space Station

Satellite: A picture posted on Twitter by NASA at 8.00pm GMT shows the centre of the moving across the South China Sea towards the coast of Vietnam

Path: Once the typhoon has reached the coast of Vietnam it is expected to moved towards the capital, Hanoi, with parts of Laos and Cambodia also likely to be affected

Loss: A pregnant woman, left, walks around the remains of her home while a young boy, right, walks past a crushed car in the destroyed town of Tacloban

Temporary: Bodies of victims lay in a deserted chapel in Tacloban. A woman and child, right, view the distressing scene

Flooding: Locals in Coron, Palawan, walk among damaged buildings and flooded streets after the typhoon – one of the most powerful to ever hit land

Terrifying: Filipino children are seen in the city of Tacloban, Leyte. Behind them is a scene of devastation with homes flattened and debris lying in the street

Picking up the pieces: Some residents try to go about their daily business despite the large-scale destruction

Tragedy: Bodies of residents can be seen in the streets of Tacloban, while one local is forced to transport a body in a wheelbarrow

Collapsed: A resident walks past her destroyed home – flattened by piles of wood and branches from nearby trees – in Tacloban city

International Development Secretary Justine Greening has also pledged £6million worth of emergency aid.

She said: ‘My thoughts are with the people of the Philippines, in particular those who have lost loved ones. UK support is now under way.

‘Many thousands of people in remote, hard-to-reach communities have lost their homes and everything they own. They are living in the open and completely exposed to the elements.

‘The absolute priority must be to reach them with shelter and protection as soon as possible.

‘UK support will provide urgently needed access to clean water, shelter, household items and blankets,

‘We are also sending additional humanitarian experts from the UK to work with the DfID team and international agencies, including ensuring partners are prioritising the protection of vulnerable girls and women.’

Workers: Local Red Cross staff place sand bags on the roof of a house in Danang, Vietnam

Debris: Helicopters hover over the damaged area of Tacloban city, which was battered with strong winds yesterday

Victim: A resident walks past dead bodies that lie on the street in Tacloban city, Leyte province

Vice mayor Jim Pe of Coron town on Busuanga, the last island battered by the typhoon, said most of the houses and buildings there had been destroyed or damaged.

Five people drowned in the storm surge and three others are missing. He said: ‘It was like a 747 flying just above my roof.’ adding that his family and some of his neighbours whose houses were destroyed took shelter in his basement.

In the aftermath, people were seen weeping while retrieving bodies of loved ones inside buildings and on a street that was littered with fallen trees, roofing material and other building parts torn off in the typhoon’s fury.

All that was left of one large building whose walls were smashed in were the skeletal remains of its rafters.

Under water: Residents wade through a flooded street in Mindoro, Philippines this morning following the typoon

Pile up: Vehicles and rubbish are pictured strewn across a flooded street in Tacloban, Leyte

Upside down: A devastated airport in Tacloban city, Leyte province – where roofs were ripped on hundreds of houses

Shock: These two pictures show the devastation in Coron, Palawan where buildings have been flattened, left and right, leaving residents helplessly walking the streets.

Space: A digital composite of Typhoon Haiyan approaching the Philippines, made using images captured geostationary satellites of the Japan Meteorological Agency

Rebuilding their lives: Two men in Iloilo move some of their belongings through flood waters covering the streets

Devastation: Debris which was washed in by the storm litters the road by the coastal village in Legazpi city. Residents now face a long clean up operation

Hanging on: A fisherman in Manila is forced to cling on to his equipment, left,  while there was little hope for other less stable buildings in the storm’s path, right

Higher ground: Residents of Legaspi, Albay province, south of Manila resident, were forced to flee the coast as Haiyan continued to pound the sea wall today

Downpour: As well as strong winds, the typhoon brought with it torrential rain which caused landslides in rural parts of the country

Terrifying: Residents run for their lives as the terrible gusts of the typhoon buffet the popular tourist city of Cebu. Trees and roofs were torn off by the storm

Blocked: Residents clear the road in the island province of Cebu after a tree was toppled by strong winds during typhoon Haiya.

Aid effort: Volunteers pack relief goods inside a Department of Social Welfare and Development warehouse before shipping out to devastated provinces

Shelter: Filipino residents sleep on the floor of a gymnasium turned into an evacuation center in Sorsogon City in the Bicol region

The developing country is particularly vulnerable because it is often the first major landmass for the storms after they build over the Pacific Ocean.

The Philippine government and some scientists have said climate change may be increasing the ferocity and frequency of storms.

Others say Pacific waters were an important reason for the strength of Haiyan, but added it was premature to blame climate change based on the scanty historical data available.

The poverty-stricken country has already endured a year of earthquakes and floods, with no fewer than 24 disastrous weather events.

The Philippines suffered the world’s strongest storm of 2012, when Typhoon Bopha left about 2,000 people dead or missing on the southern island of Mindanao.

Helpless: People look on as their village hall in Iloilo province is washed into the flood waters

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2496954/Starvation-fear-land-laid-waste-200mph-typhoon-killed-10-000-Dazed-survivors-scour-streets-food-mobs-attack-aid-trucks-Philippines.html#ixzz2kKpqjwf7
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook