My Comment:  Pray for the people of the Philippines, pray for the people in the path of this massive, massive storm.

(Daily Mail) The death toll from one of the most powerful storms on record could reach 10,000 according to officials.

So far Typhoon Haiyan is said to have killed 1,200 people in the Philippines and left many more injured, but the figure could rise dramatically after the full devastation of the ferocious storm was realised.

According to the Red Cross, 1,000 have been left dead in the devastated city of Tacloban on the island of Leyte with a further 200 casualties in Samar Province.

Regional police chief Elmer Soria said he was briefed by Leyte provincial Govenor Dominic Petilla late last night and told there were about 10,000 deaths on the island, mostly by drowning and from collapsed buildings.

About four million people are believed to have been affected by the category five storm, according to the country’s national disaster agency. This figure includes 800,000 who had to be evacuated before the storm struck.

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

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

Braced: Residents in Phu Yen, Vietnam, prepare sandbags in preparation for the storm which is expected to reach the coast on Sunday morning

Strengthen: Soldiers and workers reinforce a dyke with weather experts predicting sea surges to hit the Vietnamese coast

Bolster: Troops help prepare a house for the arrival of typhoon Haiyan at a village in the central province of Quang Tri

Winds of up to 235mph and gusts of 170mph left a trail of destruction – triggering major landslides, knocking out power and communications and causing catastrophic widespread damage. Hundreds of homes have been flattened and scores of streets flooded.

The storm is now moving towards mainland Asian and is expected to reach Vietnam coastal areas on Sunday morning while humanitarian experts estimate the number of casualties will rise considerably.

Weather forecasts have also predicted more bad weather could be on the way to the Philippines at the beginning of next week, with high winds expected to arrive on Monday.

The Foreign Office in the Philippines’ capital Manila has had no reports of British casualties but it is feared thousands have been left stranded as a result.

About 15,000 British nationals are said to live on the islands and every year 65,000 visit tourist hotspots like northern Cebu Province and Boracay Island, both of which have been savaged by the storm.

Vietnamese authorities have begun evacuating 100,000 people as they prepare to face the full force of the ferocious weather. ‘The evacuation is being conducted with urgency,’ disaster official Nguyen Thi Yen Linh said from central Danang City, where some 76,000 were being moved to safety.

Around 300,000 others have been taken to shelters in the provinces of Quang Ngai, Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue. Schools were closed and two deputy prime ministers were sent to the region to direct preparations.

The army has been brought in to provide emergency relief with some 170,000 soldiers assisting people after the typhoon hits.

Haiyan is likely to be a category two or three storm when it hits the Vietnamese coast, but the Red Cross has warned some 6.5 million people in in the country could be affected.

It is expected to reach Da Nang province tomorrow morning before moving up the country’s west coast and eventually making its way to the capital, Hanoi.

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

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

Read & View more photos and videos via:  Philippines’ super typhoon Haiyan most powerful storm in history | Mail Online

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Categories: news

Tags: extreme weather, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Philippine, Vietnam