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As many as 10,000 people were feared dead in just one Philippine city as one of the most powerful storms in history devoured a massive swath of the island nation — leaving bodies floating through the streets.
Stretching 300 miles wide and packing winds upward of 170 mph, Super Typhoon Haiyan cut a devastating path of horror through a half-dozen islands in the central Philippines.
A Filipino store owner aims a pistol to warn away looters trying to enter his store in the typhoon-devastated city of Tacloban, Leyte province, Philippines, on November 10.
"This is destruction on a massive scale," said Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, head of the UN Disaster Assessment Coordination Team, after reaching the watery ruins of Tacloban.
"The cars are thrown around like tumbleweeds and the streets are strewn with debris."
The giant storm slammed into the province of Leyte, generating monster waves that drowned hundreds of people and consumed roughly 80% of the area, authorities said.
The province's capital city of Tacloban bore the brunt of the typhoon, which flattened homes, toppled trees and left adults and children clinging to rooftops for their lives.
An aerial view shows flooded rice fields after Typhoon Haiyan hit Iloilo Province in Central Philippines.City administrator Tecson Lim said the death toll in the Tacloban alone "could go up to 10,000." The city has a population of 200,000.
A man wheels a victim of Typhoon Haiyan following the massive storm.Nearly 800,000 people across the country were forced to abandon their homes.
"From the shore and moving a kilometer inland, there are no structures standing. It was like a tsunami," said Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas, who had been in Tacloban since before the typhoon struck the city located about 360 miles southeast of Manila. "I don't know how to describe what I saw. It's horrific."
One heartrending image from the region showed a man carrying the drowned body of his 6-year-old daughter.
The national government and disaster agency have not confirmed the latest estimate of deaths, a sharp increase from initial projections on Saturday of at least 1,000 killed.
Residents carry the body of a loved one after super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city.The massive storm surge destroyed the local airport in Tacloban and knocked out electricity, water and all communications.
A satellite image shows Typhoon Haiyan after it passed over the Philippines.
By Saturday night, as the storm churned toward Vietnam, rescue workers desperately tried to reach the hardest-hit areas as many relatives in the United States tried in vain to reach their loved ones and friends back home.
Simon Corpuz, 34, of Woodside, Queens, moved to the U.S. With his parents when he was 10. He said his aunt and cousins are still in Leyte province.
An injured man walks to get treatment following powerful Typhoon Haiyan.
"I'm worried," said the Delta Airlines employee. "I haven't had any communication with them. I can't get through. ... It's unbelievable. I call every two hours."
When he last spoke with them on Tuesday, his family was not planning to evacuate.
Typhoon Haiyan, seen from the International Space Station, is one of the strongest typhoons ever to make landfall."They were like, 'Oh, that typhoon, that's just like the regular typhoons.'"
Corpuz and his cousins in Manila have been trying to reach the Leyte branch of the family through Facebook, also to no avail.
A vehicle lies amid debris after powerful Typhoon Haiyan hit Tacloban city in Central Philippines Saturday.
"It's bad," he said.
People walk past a victim on the side of a street in the city of Tacloban, Leyte province, Philippines, which was devastated by the typhoon.Waiter Rafael Munsayac, 24, of Woodside, has been more fortunate. He and his parents have been in the U.S. for three years. But his fiancée is still in Cebu in the Philippines. The power went out and he couldn't reach her for 20 hours to find out if she was alive.
"I was worried sick," he said. "I was praying. It was all I could do."
Residents try to seek shelter with their belongings following Typhoon Haiyan.
Several of his friends are still missing.
"I haven't heard from them yet," he said. "I'm really scared right now."
People survey a damaged village hall in Iloilo on Saturday after the massive typhoon.Nurse Bernelyn Liporada, 33, moved to the U.S. in 2006 and lives in Flushing. She said her parents are in Manila and safe — something she doesn't take for granted after seeing the news.
Filipino medical soldiers treat wounded victims in the typhoon-ravaged city of Tacloban."I didn't know it was the worst typhoon on the planet," she said.
Storm chaser Josh Morgerman described Tacloban on his Facebook page as "a horrid landscape of smashed buildings and completely defoliated trees, with widespread looting and unclaimed bodies decaying in the open air."
A view of the typhoon-ravaged city of Tacloban, province of Leyte, Philippines."The typhoon moved fast and didn't last long — only a few hours — but it struck the city with absolutely terrifying ferocity."
Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, said workers from her agency saw hundreds of bodies adrift in the flood waters of Tacloban.
"The typhoon moved fast and didn't last long — only a few hours — but it struck the city with absolutely terrifying ferocity."
Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, said workers from her agency saw hundreds of bodies adrift in the flood waters of Tacloban.
Other bodies were lying in the mud along what once was the city's main road, while witnesses reported more victims left outdoors beneath plastic sheets.
"It was like a tsunami," said airport manager Efren Nagrama, 47, who survived raging floodwaters of 13 feet. "I held on to a pole for an hour as rain, seawater and wind swept through ... Some of my staff survived by clinging to trees."
Survivors walk past a damaged town after strong winds brought by Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city.Tacloban resident Sandy Torotoro, 44, said the storm surge swept away a Jeep where he had sought protection.
"The water was as high as a coconut tree," he said. "I got out of the Jeep and I was swept away by the rampaging water, (along) with logs, trees and our house."
The married father of an 8-year-old girl recounted the nightmarish scene as the city streets turned into raging rivers.
"When we were being swept by the water, many people were floating and raising their hands and yelling for help," he said. "But what can we do? We also needed to be helped."
Another 200 deaths were reported on the island of Samar, according to Pang. On the island of Busuanga, one official said the majority of the local buildings were eradicated by the storm.
The sustained winds of 147 mph — with gusts about 30 mph higher — were "like a 747 flying just above my roof," said Jim Pe, vice mayor of the town of Coron on Basuanga.
Filipino Interior Secretary Max Roxas was waiting for additional news as the country tries to recover — but he expects most of it to be bad.
"We expect a very high number of fatalities, as well as injured," Roxas conceded. "The devastation is — I don't have words for it. It's really horrific. It's a great human tragedy."
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