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         Philippine Red Cross: At Least 1,200 People Killed in Typhoon

   The Philippine Red Cross says a super typhoon that plowed through the
   central Philippines on Friday may have killed at least 1,200 people.
   The official death toll released by the Philippine government on
   Saturday was 138, but President Benigno Aquino said he believes "there
   will be substantially more casualties."
   Philippine Red Cross secretary general Gwendolyn Pang said her
   organization estimates that at least 1,000 people were killed on Leyte
   island with another 200 killed on nearby Samar island.
   Super Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, slammed into the
   islands early Friday. It had maximum sustained winds of around 300
   kilometers an hour and sent waves up to five meters crashing through
   island communities.
   A United Nations Disaster Assessment Coordination Team that flew into
   Leyte`s capital of Tacloban said it found "scenes of total
   devastation." It said roads from the airport to the city of 200,000
   people were impassable, leaving helicopters as the only means of
   travel.
   The U.N. team leader Sebastian Rhodes Stampa said the last time he saw
   destruction on such a scale was in the aftermath of the December 2004
   Indian Ocean Tsunami.
   Philippine Interior Secretary Mar Roxas also arrived in Tacloban on
   Saturday and said the devastation was "really horrific ... a great
   human tragedy." The government helped to evacuate people in the region
   in the days before the storm, but it appeared that many stayed in their
   homes.
   Some Tacloban residents wept as they recounted losing loved ones.
   Others appeared dazed. Bodies lay in the streets, covered in sheets and
   bags. People also began looting stores, looking for food to survive or
   carrying away household appliances.
   Roxas said the Philippine government has deployed security forces to
   the area to conduct rescue operations, and to try to restore
   electricity and water.
   U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement saying Washington
   is "ready to help" the Philippines, a longtime regional ally, as it
   deals with Haiyan`s aftermath.
   Typhoon Haiyan weakened after crossing the Philippines but regained
   some strength as it moved westward over the South China Sea toward
   central Vietnam.
   Vietnamese authorities carried out mass evacuations in at least four
   coastal provinces on Saturday, sending hundreds of thousands of people
   to shelters. The typhoon was due to hit on Sunday afternoon local time.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/philippine-red-cross-at-least-1200-people-killed-in-typhoon/1787081.html