People covered their faces with towels and scarves against the stench of death Monday, clogging the typhoon-ravaged roads of the hardest hit part of the Philippines in a traffic jam of desperation. 
 
 Headed into one center of devastation were Filipinos frantic to find loved ones, or help, or both; fleeing in the other direction were battered and fearful survivors of the howling winds and raging waves of supertyphoon Haiyan. 
 
 As... ||||| International governments and aid agencies are stepping up efforts to deliver urgent supplies to millions of people in the Philippines, amid criticism of the operation so far. 
 
 More than 11 million people have been affected, around 10% of the population, the UN reports. 
 
 In some towns and cities, the UN says that as much as 90% of housing has been destroyed. 
 
 The UN has issued an appeal for $300m (£190m), and has released $25 million in emergency funds to provide immediate assistance. 
 
 As of Thursday the confirmed death toll stands at 2,357, with 3,853 injured, according to the Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. (NDRRMC). 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption 60-second guide: How much aid does the Philippines need? 
 
 Slow process 
 
 Damage to roads and infrastructure has hindered the distribution of aid, although US, Singaporean and Japanese military C-130 transport aircraft are now landing at Tacloban, one of the worst affected towns. 
 
 Two senior UN officials visited Tacloban on Wednesday and identified an urgent need for transport, emergency shelter material, hygiene kits, body bags and the establishment of family tracing service. 
 
 A lack of trucks and fuel shortage is severely hampering the response, the UN says, with people from remote areas forced to walk several kilometres to reach aid distribution points. 
 
 In Tacloban, bodies remain unrecovered on the streets, the UN reports. 
 
 There have also been accounts of people digging up underground pipes in a desperate search for drinking water. 
 
 Around 25 humanitarian organisations are operating in and around Tacloban, including international response teams, NGOs, the Red Cross and other UN teams. 
 
 French-Belgian and Israeli field hospitals have been set up. 
 
 The Philippines Red Cross is delivering basic food aid, which includes rice, canned goods, sugar, salt, cooking oil. 
 
 The Philippines Red Cross "Survival Tips" 
 
 If your house was destroyed, make sure that it is already safe and stable when you enter 
 
 Beware of dangerous animals such as snakes that may have entered your house 
 
 Watch out for live wires or outlet immersed in water. 
 
 Report damaged electrical cables and fallen electric posts to the authorities. 
 
 Do not let water accumulate in tyres, cans or pots to avoid creating a favourable condition for mosquito breeding. 
 
 Water and sewerage systems have been destroyed in many areas, and the UN has identified an urgent need for mobile water treatment units, generators and emergency latrines. 
 
 Although all regional airports have now reopened, Tacloban remains closed to civilian flights, the NDRRMC reports. 
 
 The Philippines Government has established additional aid distribution points in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, and Ormoc City, Leyte. 
 
 International effort 
 
 The US aircraft carrier George Washington and its escort ships have arrived off the Philippines coast. 
 
 Aid at a glance Asian Development Bank: $500m emergency loans and $23m in grants Australia: A$30m ($28m) package, including medical staff, shelter materials, water containers and hygiene kits China: 10m yuan ($1.6m; £1m) in relief goods plus $200,000 (£120,000) from government and Red Cross European Commission: $11m Indonesia: Logistical aid including aircraft, food, generators and medicine Israel: 148-person team, including search, rescue and medical services; field hospital with 100 tonnes of aid Japan: $10m, including tents and blankets. Pledged up to 1,000 soldiers, 25-person medical team already sent South Korea: $5m plus a 40-strong medical team UAE: $10m in humanitarian aid US: $20m in humanitarian aid, 90 marines, aircraft carrier plus logistics support UK: $16m (£10m) package including emergency shelter, water and household items Donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) In pictures: Aid ramps up Typhoon Haiyan: Aid in numbers Q&A: Haiyan disaster management 
 
 The carrier's fleet of helicopters is desperately needed to expand search and rescue operations, and deliver aid to inaccessible areas. 
 
 A hospital ship, USNS Mercy, has also been activated and could reach the Philippines in December. 
 
 Britain has despatched the helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious from the Gulf. 
 
 It is expected to arrive in 10 days time and will relieve the destroyer HMS Daring, itself en route and due to arrive on Saturday. 
 
 The British government has also sent 8,836 shelter kits from Dubai on a chartered aircraft, which landed at the main aid distribution hub in Cebu on Wednesday. 
 
 Each kit consists of plastic sheeting and rope to provide temporary shelter for a family of five. 
 
 Several more UK-funded aid flights are expected to arrive in the next few days. 
 
 Japan is preparing to send up to 1,000 troops as well as naval vessels and aircraft. 
 
 Double blow 
 
 When the typhoon struck, the region was still reeling from the Bohol earthquake in October. More than 17,300 people were already receiving food aid from the World Food Programme as a result of the quake. 
 
 British charity ShelterBox, which provides emergency shelter and non-food supplies for families affected by disasters, was already in the region working with affected families. 
 
 ShelterBox provides families with a plastic box which contains a variety of items. 
 
 What's in a ShelterBox box? 
 
 ShelterBox volunteer Mark Dyer weathered the storm on Bohol Island. 
 
 "When we knew the typhoon was coming, we advised people to lower the tents before the storm. So we are now going back to help people put these tents back up, so they will at least have places to live for the next few weeks." 
 
 As well as a tent - designed to withstand extremes of wind, rain and cold - ShelterBox boxes include water purification equipment, blankets, cooking implements and solar-powered lighting and activity packs for children. ||||| A massive relief effort after one of the deadliest storms in a century was hampered early Tuesday by the widespread wreckage in the central Philippines, where the super-typhoon left trees splintered on the streets, bodies festering in open view, and desperate towns short of food and water. 
 
 The destruction across a chain of Philippine islands leaves authorities with a complicated relief operation, on a scale exceeding any other in the history of the disaster-prone nation. 
 
 Although rescue workers have reached many of the areas that Typhoon Haiyan hit on Friday, others remain inaccessible. Pharmacies have been swept away and hospitals gutted. Looters have hauled away medical supplies, according to local media reports. The half-dozen provinces hit most directly by Haiyan’s 150-mph winds still lack electricity or mobile phone connections. In some remote areas, relief can arrive only by boat or helicopter. 
 
 Early Tuesday, a clearer picture of the destruction emerged as rescue workers reported on conditions on the ground and the Philippine military provided aerial images of towns ground into wood beams and rubble. Photos showed survivors walking the streets, covering their noses with clothing to shield them from the stench of bodies. 
 
 The typhoon cut a path through the middle of the country, directly affecting about 10 percent of the population. As many as 10,000 people are feared dead in Tacloban city alone, according to unconfirmed accounts, and thousands nationwide are missing. The government’s death toll rose to 1,774, but it is expected to climb greatly. 
 
 “I don’t believe there is a single structure that is not destroyed or severely damaged in some way — every single building, every single house,” U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy said after taking a helicopter flight over Tacloban, according to the Associated Press. 
 
 Said Sandra Bulling, an emergency communications officer at CARE, a humanitarian agency, who made it to a village 20 miles from Tacloban on Monday: “It is really a massive disaster. Aid is slowly getting through, and the local authorities have started distributing. But what the municipalities are telling us is they’re running out of their stock, and now they’re really relying on international support.” 
 
 Global assistance 
 
 Nations across the region moved quickly to help the Philippines, a country in which 40 percent of the population lives on $2 or less per day and whose shoddy infrastructure makes it vulnerable to typhoon damage. 
 
 Secretary of State John F. Kerry told Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario that the U.S. government will provide “all necessary assistance.” The U.S. Agency for International Development announced $20 million in immediate humanitarian aid. The agency is helping Philippine agencies evaluate damage, and a U.S. disaster team is in Leyte province, one of the hardest-hit regions. The team’s initial report suggested that 90 percent of housing there has been significantly damaged or destroyed. 
 
 Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the USS George Washington and other Navy ships to the Philippines to help with the relief efforts. 
 
 Support has flowed in from more than 20 countries, Philippine authorities say. Australia announced $9.4 million in assistance. Japan said it would fly in medical staff. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released $25 million in emergency funding. One of the main goals is to quickly reopen roads and airports, said John Ging, a director at the office. According to the United Nations, about 2.5 million people are in need of food because of the disaster, and the risk of malnutrition is “extremely high.” 
 
 “The scale of devastation also impacts the capacity to get aid to the people where they most need it,” Ging told reporters in New York. “Clean drinking water is a very big priority right now.” 
 
 Even in the best of times, traveling between islands in the Philippines can be difficult. The nation has for decades underinvested in infrastructure, according to the World Bank, and its airports are among the most inferior in Asia. Its military, too, is stuck with Cold War-era aircraft and boats, despite recent modernization attempts. 
 
 Before Haiyan made landfall, the Philippines evacuated hundreds of thousands of people, but for those in its path, the storm was nearly inescapable. Survivors say tsunami-like walls of water flooded streets and homes within minutes. Some towns reported waves as high as 12 feet. 
 
 Some meteorologists and scientists say a global rise in temperatures has created higher-power storms, and a Philippine delegate at U.N. climate change talks in Warsaw said Haiyan is a “sobering reminder” of the dangers of climate change. 
 
 “It can be considered a perfect storm,” Lucille Sering, secretary of the Philippine Climate Change Commission, said in a televised interview with ABS-CBN News, a Philippine media network. “They were hit not only by water brought by the wind, but also by water brought by the rain due to the increase in temperature.” 
 
 On Monday night, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III declared a state of “national calamity” — a maneuver that pulls away red tape and can speed up the government response. He told law enforcement agencies to take all necessary measures to maintain order in the wake of looting. 
 
 Since taking office in 2010, Aquino has spoken out against national and local corruption, saying that it undermines growth. And on Monday, the government tried to make sure that the money and food arriving in the devastated areas wind up in the right hands. 
 
 Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, a key lieutenant for Aquino, urged local governments to distribute relief goods as quickly as possible and keep finger-pointing to a minimum. He also asked that local governments designate leaders who can assess where relief is most needed. 
 
 “We all need to work together,” Almendras said. “There’s a need to organize ourselves well.” 
 
 The typhoon made landfall in Vietnam on Monday, but its winds were far weaker than those that tore into the Philippines. No casualties were reported in Vietnam. State media in China reported Tuesday that the typhoon has killed eight people in southern China. 
 
 Those in some parts of the central Philippines could be without power for as long as six months, the Philippine Department of Energy said, because the typhoon destroyed hundreds of electrical posts. Total damage from the storm could reach $14 billion, according to a Kinetic Analysis Corp. study cited by Bloomberg News. 
 
 “The restoration of communications and power lines are urgent and critical now,” said Marco Boasso, the chief of mission in the Philippines for the International Organization for Migration. “Without that, we cannot get a clear picture of the true magnitude of this mega-disaster and the ensuing needs,” he added. “What we are seeing now is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. I am sad to say that over the coming days, we are likely to see a sharp and tragic rise in Haiyan’s impact.” 
 
 Harlan reported from Seoul. ||||| (CNN) -- The unprecedented natural disaster that came in the form of Typhoon Haiyan is a potential medical disaster for the Philippines, according to emergency crews on the ground. 
 
 The Red Cross says it has ordered 10,000 body bags in preparation for the number of bodies it believes it will have to retrieve. The official death toll, currently in the hundreds, is likely to grow quickly as rescue crews are better able to assess the situation. 
 
 What is left behind are some 4.2 million people who have been affected by the storm, many of them injured, thirsty or hungry. The Philippines storm -- some three and a half times more forceful than Hurricane Katrina -- has created serious food and water shortages. 
 
 Typhoon Haiyan: 3 days in, little relief for survivors 
 
 A second round of deaths may be imminent, given limited food and water, along with pools of standing, possibly polluted water amid a breakdown in ordinary sanitation. Relief agencies are worried about outbreaks of disease and infections in the storm's wake. 
 
 "We don't have the full picture yet, but there is a lot of destruction, which means that next to a high number of deaths the possibility of wounds will be high," said Meinie Nicolai, the president of Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders in Belgium. "We worry about more deaths because of infection." 
 
 Medecins Sans Frontieres says in the first stage of its recovery efforts, it will work to keep infection rates down and then work to vaccinate people for tetanus. The bacteria that causes tetanus when it enters a deep flesh wound can be deadly. 
 
 The agency will also provide ongoing psychological help to the victims of the disaster many of whom will be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Nicolai said. 
 
 "People in the Philippines are used to typhoons, but the scale of this is completely unprecedented. People will suffer a lot of trauma from the death and destruction they are seeing and will be scared for future typhoons. We will make room for people to speak with a professional and will set up group sessions where people can talk through their trauma." 
 
 People are so desperate for food and water there are reports of crowds breaking into warehouses and stores. 
 
 Medical supplies are also scarce. The few hospitals left standing have had to turn people away because they are overwhelmed with the injured. Many people desperate for medical attention have made their way to the airport, where the military is trying to administer medical care. 
 
 The World Health Organization is supporting the Philippines Department of Health in strengthening its early warning alert and response network to watch for disease outbreaks and other public health threats related to food scarcity, water contamination and other environmental hazards. 
 
 It is also helping the government coordinate the international assistance to make sure the field hospitals and medical teams and supplies go where there is the most critical need, and is re-establishing bases for the supplies that are coming in from all over the world. 
 
 USAID, one of the first agencies to reach victims after the typhoon, came with food, water, hygiene kits and sanitation equipment. U.S. Marines have been helping distribute the aid. 
 
 Americares has an emergency shipment on the way to the Philippines with enough medical aid for 20,000 survivors, including antibiotics, wound care supplies and pain relievers. 
 
 International Medical Corps has pre-positioned medical supplies and a team on the ground offering support. Direct Relief is also sending 1.5 tons of emergency medicine, which also includes antifungal medications and chronic disease medicines. 
 
 C-10's are bringing in supplies from the World Food Programme, which has sent high-energy protein biscuits to feed half a million people. 
 
 The World Food Programme has 10 people on the ground already, and they will be setting up bases and getting information to the rest of the World Food Programme hubs to determine how much food and supplies are needed, said Bill Campbell with the World Food Programme. 
 
 How Haiyan could teach world how to adapt to extreme weather 
 
 The government has declared a State of National Calamity, which among other powers gives the government price controls for goods including food. 
 
 The problem at the moment is being able to assess exactly how many people are hurt. Geography complicates matters. The Philippines population is spread over 800 of the 7,100 islands that make up the country. 
 
 "We are having to rent boats and helicopters and are trying to do whatever we can to get to the remote areas," Nicolai said. 
 
 Medecins Sans Frontieres is one of the hundreds of agencies that has crews on the ground trying to assess survivors' needs; Nicolai spoke as trucks were being loaded outside her office with medical material, tents to create makeshift hospitals, water and sanitation equipment, generators and medical equipment. 
 
 The good news, if there can be good news in such a disaster, is that the Philippines does have a medical infrastructure already -- at least compared to the other regions in which Medecins Sans Frontieres works, according to Nicolai. 
 
 "That means you do have an educated medical staff with experience there, but we are learning many are missing or dead, so we, like a lot of other groups that are responding, will try and reinforce and help what is there." 
 
 How to help Typhoon Haiyan survivors ||||| Posted at 11/12/2013 1:25 PM | Updated as of 11/12/2013 10:07 PM 
 
 TACLOBAN, Philippines - Hung outside a shattered church in the Philippine coastal city of Tacloban, on a road flanked with uncollected corpses and canyons of debris, is a handwritten sign. 
 
 It read, "We need help!" 
 
 Relief supplies are pouring into Tacloban three days after Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded, turned this once-vibrant port city of 220,000 into a corpse-choked wasteland. 
 
 Tacloban city administrator Tecson Juan Lim says the death toll in this city alone "could go up to 10,000." 
 
 At least a dozen U.S. and Philippines military cargo planes arrived on Monday, with the Philippine air force saying it had flown in about 60,000 kg (66 tons) of relief supplies since Saturday. But the demand is huge and the supplies aren't reaching those who need it most. 
 
 "People are roaming around the city, looking for food and water," said Christopher Pedrosa, a government aid worker. 
 
 Aid trucks from the airport struggle to enter the city because of the stream of people and vehicles leaving it. On motorbikes, trucks or by foot, people clog the road to the airport, clutching scarves to their faces to blot out the dust and stench of bodies. 
 
 Hundreds have already left on cargo planes to the capital, Manila, or the second-biggest city of Cebu, with many more sleeping rough overnight at the wrecked airport in the hope of boarding flights in the coming days. 
 
 Reuters journalists traveled on a government aid truck which took five hours to pick up 600 bags of rice, tinned goods and milk from the airport and take it to a distribution point at City Hall. Thousands more bags were left at the airport because the truck wasn't big enough, said officials. 
 
 Pedrosa, the government aid worker, said security concerns prevented supplies from being handed out after dark. 
 
 "There might be a stampede," he said. 
 
 The aid truck was guarded by soldiers toting assault rifles. "It's risky," said Jewel Ray Marcia, a Philippine army lieutenant who led the unit. 
 
 "People are angry. They are going out of their minds." 
 
 "NOTHING LEFT TO LOOT" 
 
 The official slogan of Tacloban is "A City of Progress, Beauty and Love". But Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, has turned that on its head, as desperation and anger grow. Residents wait with increasing impatience for a trickle of aid to become a torrent. 
 
 Earlier on Monday, said Pedrosa, soldiers fired warning shots into the air to stop people stealing fuel from a petrol station. 
 
 A heavier presence of soldiers and police on the debris-choked streets has stopped most looting, at least for now. 
 
 People were still emptying one warehouse of rice and loading it onto carts and motorcycles. No police or soldiers stopped them. 
 
 A handwritten sign pinned to a makeshift police checkpoint near a looted department store warned of an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew. Reuters was unable to confirm whether the curfew was observed or enforced. 
 
 Also cleared out is a bottling factory for beer and soft drinks. In some areas, Coca-Cola was handed out free while drinking water was impossible to find. Officials were warning residents not to drink water from wells, which were likely polluted. 
 
 But there is another reason the looting had abated. 
 
 "There is nothing left to loot," said Pedrosa. 
 
 "THERE IS NOTHING HERE" 
 
 Officials attribute the high death toll to the many people who stayed behind to protect their property and were swept away in a storm surge of water and lacerating debris. 
 
 One of them was Marivel Saraza, 39, who moved her six children further inland before Haiyan struck, but stayed behind to look after her home only a stone's throw from the sea. 
 
 She ended up battling through chest-high water to reach higher ground, while the storm surge destroyed her two-story concrete home. 
 
 "My house just dissolved in the water," she said. 
 
 Saraza now struggles to feed her children. The government gave her 2 kg (4.4 lb) of rice and a single can of sardines - barely enough for one family meal - so her husband was foraging for fruit further inland. But trees have been combed flat by the force of the wind and rice fields inundated with salt water. 
 
 Haiyan struck with a force strong enough to drown hundreds of people in a storm surge and send cars and shipping containers tumbling through neighborhoods. All that's left of the main airport building is a carcass of twisted metal. 
 
 The sea has yet to retreat from some neighborhoods and the streets are flooded. The bay is littered with half-submerged cars. 
 
 Some people are making shelters from what the water has left of their broken homes. Others, unable to find any flat ground amid the ruins, sleep on sodden mattresses on their roofs. Some 5,000 people sheltered in a stadium. 
 
 The streets empty at night, the ruins lit here and there by cooking fires, or scoped by the powerful lights of passing army trucks. 
 
 Rusty Lacambra, 42, is joining the exodus along with his wife, two sons and niece. On Monday night he hitched a lift in an army truck bound for the airport to wait with hundreds of others hoping for a free flight on a cargo plane to Manila. 
 
 "My house is destroyed," he said. "Even if you have money there is no food to buy. There is nothing here." ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports from Tacloban where families have to bury their own dead 
 
 Philippine President Benigno Aquino has declared a state of national calamity to speed relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Haiyan. 
 
 In a statement, he said the two worst affected provinces, Leyte and Samar, had suffered massive destruction and loss of life. 
 
 Thousands of survivors are still desperately waiting for the aid effort to reach them. 
 
 At least 10,000 people are feared to have been killed. 
 
 Tacloban is one of the worst affected cities. The BBC's Jon Donnison, who is there, says there does not yet seem to be an effective operation to get help to those in need. 
 
 This is expected to change over the next few days, he says. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption "One shirt. That's all I'm asking for": The BBC hears survivors' stories 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's George Alagiah reports from a makeshift distribution centre at Manila airport 
 
 Hundreds of thousands more people have been displaced after the high winds and floodwaters destroyed their homes. Damage to roads and airports has delayed the delivery of aid. 
 
 The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the UN would launch a large-scale humanitarian plan on Tuesday. He called for UN member states to show solidarity with the people of the Philippines. 
 
 Auntie, we need help! Please! We are okay but the house is destroyed Typhoon Haiyan: Survivors' stories 
 
 "We have all seen the heartbreaking images of the impact of this huge storm," he said. 
 
 One of the most powerful storms on record to make landfall, Haiyan - named "Yolanda" by Philippine authorities - struck the coastal provinces of Leyte and Samar on Friday. 
 
 It then headed west, sweeping through six central Philippine islands. 
 
 Struggle 
 
 More than nine million people have been affected in the Philippines. Many are now struggling to survive without food, shelter or clean drinking water. 
 
 A picture is slowly emerging of the full damage wrought by the storm: 
 
 The exposed easterly town of Guiuan, Samar province - population 40,000 - is said to be largely destroyed 
 
 province - population 40,000 - is said to be largely destroyed Three-hundred people were killed in the town of Basey, also in Samar , the provincial disaster office confirmed 
 
 , the provincial disaster office confirmed Tacloban, Leyte province, was largely flattened by a massive storm surge and scores of corpses are piled by the roadside, leaving a stench in the air as they rot. Hundreds of people gathered at the airport desperate for food and water, others trying to get a flight out 
 
 province, was largely flattened by a massive storm surge and scores of corpses are piled by the roadside, leaving a stench in the air as they rot. Hundreds of people gathered at the airport desperate for food and water, others trying to get a flight out Disaster worker Dennis Chong told the BBC that assessments in the far north of Cebu province had shown some towns had suffered "80-90% damage" 
 
 province had shown some towns had suffered "80-90% damage" Baco, a city of 35,000 in Oriental Mindoro province, was 80% under water, the UN said. 
 
 A huge international relief effort is under way, but rescue workers have struggled to reach areas cut off since the storm. 
 
 However, reports from Tacloban say soldiers have been distributing food and water to some residents and the US military has sent marines to the city. 
 
 The head of the Philippine Red Cross, Richard Gordon, described the situation as "absolute bedlam". 
 
 "It's only now that they were able to get in and we're beginning just to bring in the necessary food items... as well as water and other things that they need," he told the BBC. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Aerial footage shows devastation in Tanauan, Tacloban and Cebu 
 
 Jane Cocking, the humanitarian director for Oxfam, said her colleagues witnessed "complete devastation". 
 
 A Philippine military spokesman was quoted as saying on Monday that 942 people had died in the typhoon's aftermath, though it is clear the official death toll will rise significantly. 
 
 Some 660,000 people have been displaced, according to UN figures, among a total of 9.8 million affected. 
 
 The UN's Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, was is her way to the Philippines. 
 
 A priority of the UN's response teams once on the ground would be the burial of bodies to meet concerns about public health, UN humanitarian official John Ging said. 
 
 "We are certainly expecting the worst," he added. "As we get more and more access we find the tragedy of more and more people killed in this typhoon." 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Three days after Typhoon Haiyan hit, aerial photos are revealing a scene of apocalyptic devastation along a swathe of the central Philippines. 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption The storm flattened houses, leaving thousands homeless in many areas. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption In Tacloban, one of the worst hit cities, the storm washed ships ashore. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption A 21-year-old woman lies exhausted on the debris-covered floor at a makeshift medical facility in Tacloban after giving birth to a baby girl. The storm surge swept away her mother. 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption The storm, by now much weaker, hit Vietnam in Ha Long City, causing damage and some casualties. 
 
 'Unprecedented' storm 
 
 Some are questioning what more authorities could have done to prepare for this, just the latest in a string of disasters to hit the nation of more than 7,000 islands. 
 
 Authorities had evacuated hundreds of thousands of people before the typhoon arrived, but many evacuation centres - schools, churches and government buildings - proved unable to withstand the winds and storm surges. 
 
 International aid Australia : Aus$10m ($9.4m; £5.8m), including medical personnel 
 
 : Aus$10m ($9.4m; £5.8m), including medical personnel China : $200,000 (£125,000) 
 
 : $200,000 (£125,000) European Commission : 3m euros (£2.5m; $4m) 
 
 : 3m euros (£2.5m; $4m) Indonesia : Aircraft, personnel, drinking water, food, generators, medicine 
 
 : Aircraft, personnel, drinking water, food, generators, medicine Japan : 25 emergency medical personnel 
 
 : 25 emergency medical personnel New Zealand : NZ$2.15m (£1.1m) 
 
 : NZ$2.15m (£1.1m) Taiwan : $200,000 
 
 : $200,000 UK : £10m ($15m) non-food aid package 
 
 : £10m ($15m) non-food aid package UN: central emergency relief fund: $25m 
 
 central emergency relief fund: $25m US : At least 180 marines and sailors, transporter planes, emergency food, water, shelter and hygiene materials 
 
 : At least 180 marines and sailors, transporter planes, emergency food, water, shelter and hygiene materials Vietnam: $100,000 This list is not comprehensive 
 
 Haiyan brought sustained winds of 235km/h (147mph), with gusts of 275 km/h (170 mph) and waves as high as 15m (45ft). In some places, as much as 400mm (15.75 inches) of rain fell. 
 
 Officials said looting was widespread and order was proving difficult to enforce. Correspondents say many ordinary people are simply scavenging for the food and water needed to survive. 
 
 In some areas, the dead are being buried in mass graves. 
 
 American military aircraft and ships are being deployed to provide help. Aid is being flown into the only regional international airport at Cebu, with relief efforts focusing on Tacloban. 
 
 Other countries have also pledged millions of dollars in assistance. Britain is earmarking £10m ($15); Australia has approved $9m in humanitarian aid to the Philippines; while New Zealand has pledged over $1m. 
 
 Typhoon Haiyan later made landfall in Vietnam, near the tourist destination of Ha Long Bay, with sustained winds of up to 140 km/h (85mph). 
 
 Despite losing much of its strength, the storm still felled trees and damaged buildings, with reports of some casualties. 
 
 Some 600,000 people were evacuated in northern provinces of the country. ||||| When two Philippine Air Force C-130s arrived at the typhoon-wrecked airport here just after dawn Tuesday, more than 3,000 people who had camped out hoping to escape the devastation surged onto the tarmac past a broken iron fence. Only a few hundred made it aboard; the rest were left in a shattered, rain-lashed city short of food and water and littered with uncounted bodies. 
 
 Philippine soldiers stand near relief supplies for victims of Typhoon Haiyan at Villamor Airbase, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013 in Manila, Philippines. Authorities said at least 9.7 million people in 41 provinces... (Associated Press) 
 
 Typhoon survivors hang signs from their necks as they queue up in the hopes of boarding a C-130 military transport plane Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, in Tacloban, central Philippines. Thousands of typhoon... (Associated Press) 
 
 Typhoon survivors queue up to get a chance to board a C-130 military transport plane Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, in Tacloban, central Philippines. Thousands of typhoon survivors swarmed the airport here on... (Associated Press) 
 
 Philippine military personnel try to prioritize children and women first as they wait for evacuation flights in Tacloban, central Philippines, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013. Thousands of typhoon survivors swarmed... (Associated Press) 
 
 One of seven statues of the team of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur reeanacting his historic landing is toppled as it was hit by strong winds during Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central... (Associated Press) 
 
 Survivors from Tacloban, which was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan disembark a Philippine Air Force C-130 aircraft at the Villamor Airbase, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, in Manila, Philippines. Authorities said... (Associated Press) 
 
 Typhoon survivors rush to get a chance to board a C-130 military transport plane in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013. Thousands of typhoon survivors swarmed the... (Associated Press) 
 
 Typhoon survivors jostle to get a chance to board a C-130 military transport plane Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, in Tacloban, central Philippines. Thousands of typhoon survivors swarmed the airport on Tuesday... (Associated Press) 
 
 Survivors of Typhoon Haiyan disembark a Philippine Airforce C-130 aircraft at Villamor Airbase, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013 in Manila, Philippines. Authorities said at least 9.7 million people in 41 provinces... (Associated Press) 
 
 Survivors rush to board a C-130 military transport plane, Tuesday Nov. 12, 2013, in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines. Thousands of typhoon survivors swarmed the airport on Tuesday seeking... (Associated Press) 
 
 Typhoon survivors hang signs from their necks as they queue up in the hopes of boarding a C-130 military transport plane Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, in Tacloban, central Philippines. Thousands of typhoon... (Associated Press) 
 
 Philippine military personnel try to prioritize children and women first as people wait for evacuation flights in Tacloban, central Philippines, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013. Thousands of typhoon survivors... (Associated Press) 
 
 A Philippine air force officer hands out orange slices to typhoon survivors as they line up to board a C-130 military transport plane, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, in Tacloban city, central Philippines. Thousands... (Associated Press) 
 
 Typhoon survivors rush to board a C-130 military transport plane Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, in Tacloban city, central Philippines. Thousands of typhoon survivors swarmed the airport on Tuesday seeking a... (Associated Press) 
 
 A child waits with fellow typhoon survivors as they line up in the hopes of boarding an evacuation flight on a C-130 military transport plane Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, in Tacloban, central Philippines.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Philippine soldiers walk near a military C-130 plane as they prepare to go to Tacloban city, at the Villamor Airbase, in Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013. Four days after Typhoon Haiyan struck... (Associated Press) 
 
 A young survivor uses the remains of some parts of a house to shield him from rain in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013. Four days after Typhoon Haiyan struck... (Associated Press) 
 
 A woman carried by a Filipino trooper cries as she and other survivors head for a plane to flee Typhoon Haiyan ravaged Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013. Thousands... (Associated Press) 
 
 Just a dozen soldiers and several police held the crowd back. Mothers raised their babies high above their heads in the rain, in hopes of being prioritized. One woman in her 30s lay on a stretcher, shaking uncontrollably. 
 
 "I was pleading with the soldiers. I was kneeling and begging because I have diabetes," said Helen Cordial, whose house was destroyed in the storm. "Do they want me to die in this airport? They are stone-hearted." 
 
 "We need help. Nothing is happening," said Aristone Balute, an 81-year-old who also didn't get a flight. "We haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon." Her clothes were soaked from the rain, and tears streamed down her face. 
 
 The struggle at Tacloban's airport is one of countless scenes of misery in the eastern Philippines since Typhoon Haiyan struck Friday. Only a tiny amount of assistance has arrived and the needs of the nearly 10 million people affected by the disaster are growing ever more urgent. 
 
 The official death toll from the disaster stood at 1,774 on Tuesday, though authorities have said they expect that to rise markedly. They fear estimates of 10,000 dead are accurate and might be low. 
 
 As local authorities struggled to deal with the enormity of the disaster, the United Nations said it had had released $25 million in emergency funds and was launching an emergency appeal for money. 
 
 Tacloban, a city of about 220,000 people on Leyte island, bore the full force of the winds and the tsunami-like storm surges. Most of the city is in ruins, a tangled mess of destroyed houses, cars and trees. Malls, garages and shops have all been stripped of food and water by hungry residents. 
 
 Most residents spent the night under pouring rain wherever they could _ in the ruins of destroyed houses, in the open along roadsides and shredded trees. Some slept under tents brought in by the government or relief groups. 
 
 Local doctors said they were desperate for medicine. Beside the ruined airport tower, at a small makeshift clinic with shattered windows, army and air force medics said they had treated around 1,000 people since the typhoon for cuts, bruises, lacerations and deep wounds. 
 
 "It's overwhelming," said Air Force Capt. Antonio Tamayo. "We need more medicine. We cannot give anti-tetanus vaccine shots because we have none." 
 
 International aid groups and militaries are rushing assistance to the region, but little has arrived. Government officials and police and army officers have been caught up in the disaster themselves, hampering coordination. 
 
 The USS George Washington aircraft carrier was expected to arrive off the coast in about two days, according to the Pentagon. A similar sized U.S. ship, and its fleet of helicopters capable of dropping tons of water daily and evacuating wounded, was credited with saving scores of lives after the 2004 Asian tsunami. The U.S. said it is providing $20 million in immediate aid. 
 
 Several other countries, including Japan, Britain and Australia, together have donated tens of millions of dollars. The United Nations said in a statement that its $25 million would be used to pay for emergency shelter materials and household items, and for assistance with the provision of emergency health services, safe water supplies and sanitation facilities. 
 
 "We have deployed specialist teams, vital logistics support and dispatched critical supplies _ but we have to do more and faster," said U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, who was flying to the country. 
 
 Joselito Caimoy, a 42-year-old truck driver, was one of the lucky ones at Tacloban airport. He was able to get his wife, son and 3-year-old daughter on a flight out. They embraced in a tearful goodbye, but Caimoy stayed behind to guard what's left of his home and property. 
 
 "People are just scavenging in the streets. People are asking food from relatives, friends. The devastation is too much ... the malls, the grocery stories have all been looted, "he said. "They're empty. People are hungry. And they (the authorities) cannot control the people." 
 
 The dead, decomposing and stinking, litter the streets or remain trapped in the debris. 
 
 As many as 41 provinces were affected by the typhoon, known as Haiyan elsewhere in Asia but called Yolanda in the Philippines. It was likely the deadliest natural disaster to beset this poor Southeast Asian nation. 
 
 Authorities said they had evacuated 800,000 people head of the typhoon, but many evacuation centers proved to be no protection against the wind and rising water. The Philippine National Red Cross, responsible for warning the region and giving advice, said people were not prepared for a storm surge. 
 
 "Imagine America, which was prepared and very rich, still had a lot of challenges at the time of Hurricane Katrina, but what we had was three times more than what they received," said Gwendolyn Pang, the group's executive director. 
 
 Philippine President Benigno Aquino III declared a "state of national calamity," allowing the central government to release emergency funds quicker and impose price controls on staple goods. He said the two worst-hit provinces, Leyte and Samar, had witnessed "massive destruction and loss of life" but that elsewhere casualties were low. 
 
 The Philippines, an archipelago nation of more than 7,000 islands, is annually buffeted by tropical storms and typhoons, but Haiyan was an especially large catastrophe. Its winds were among the strongest ever recorded, and it appears to have killed more people than the previous deadliest Philippine storm, Thelma, in which about 5,100 people died in the central Philippines in 1991. 
 
 The country's deadliest disaster on record was the 1976 magnitude-7.9 earthquake that triggered a tsunami in the Moro Gulf in the southern Philippines, killing 5,791 people. 
 
 Amos of the U.N. and Philippines Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario will launch an emergency appeal Tuesday in Manila for aid to help the almost 9.8 million people affected, the director of U.N. humanitarian operations said. 
 
 The storm also killed eight people in southern China and inflicted hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to farming and fishing industries, Chinese state media reported Tuesday. 
 
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 Associated Press writers Oliver Teves and Teresa Cerojano in Manila contributed to this report.
– In Tacloban, the Philippine city at the center of Typhoon Haiyan's devastation, scenes of desperation and misery are everywhere, the AP reports. When two Philippine Air Force planes landed at the city's airport earlier today, they were swarmed by a crowd of thousands of people—some holding babies over their heads—who surged past a fence in an attempt to escape. Only a few hundred made it on board. "People are just scavenging in the streets," says a man who managed to get his wife and two children on a flight out but stayed to guard what remains of his home. "The grocery stories have all been looted. They're empty. People are hungry. And they (the authorities) cannot control the people." By now the looting has died down, however, ABS-CBN reports, in part thanks to a heavy police and military presence, and in part because, in the words of one government aid worker, "There is nothing left to loot." But as people try to escape the city, which is still littered with corpses, others are flooding in, searching for lost relatives or hoping for aid, which largely has yet to arrive, the Wall Street Journal reports. The government believes the death toll—now at 1,774—will rise sharply. Tacloban's city administrator says that in the city alone it "could go up to 10,000." Thousands have been reported missing and hundreds are being buried in mass graves. President Benigno Aquino thinks the 10,000 figure is too high, however, predicting it'll settle between 2,000 and 2,500, according to CNN. The BBC has more harrowing numbers: 9.8 million people have now been affected, 2.5 million are short on food, and 659,268 have been displaced. While international aid is pouring in, there still doesn't seem to be an effective operation in place to help survivors in Tacloban, according to a BBC reporter at the scene. Many other areas hit by Haiyan remain inaccessible save by boat or helicopter, the Washington Post adds. Hospitals and pharmacies have been devastated, and looters have made off with medical supplies, But it's not for lack of trying. The UN has released $25 million in emergency funds, and called on the world to donate $300 million more. Tens of millions of dollars have been donated by countries including the US, Japan, and Australia, and the US has sent the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, which is expected to arrive in two days. The Red Cross has ordered 10,000 body bags and relief agencies fear a second round of deaths could happen amid shortages of food and water and the potential for an outbreak of disease, reports CNN. The chief of Medecins Sans Frontieres says its workers are fighting to keep infection rates down and are chartering boats and helicopters to reach remote areas. Typhoon Haiyan is one of the strongest storms ever recorded and officials in the Philippines say the tsunami-like storm surge it produced is the first in the country's history, the New York Times reports. In Tacloban, large numbers of people drowned when evacuation centers—including the city's domed sports arena—were flooded by the unprecedented surge.