Typhoon Haiyan- Ground zero Tacloban, Philippines: Death toll could be over 10,000

Typhoon Haiyan- Ground zero Tacloban, Philippines: Death toll could be over 10,000

Manuel Mogato and Roli Ng
Sydney Morning Herald

Two days after one of the world’s most powerful typhoons slammed into the Philippines, as many as 10,000 people are believed to have died in a single city: Tacloban.

It is near here where US General Douglas MacArthur’s force of 174,000 men landed on October 20, 1944, in one of the biggest allied victories of World War Two.

Today, a team of about 90 US Marines and sailors headed to the Philippines, part of a first wave of promised US military assistance for relief efforts.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel this weekend ordered the US military’s Pacific Command to assist with search and rescue operations and provide air support in the wake of the super typhoon.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon also promised UN humanitarian agencies will respond rapidly to help people in need.

The UN children’s fund UNICEF says a cargo plane carrying 60 tonnes of aid including shelters and medicine will arrive in the Philippines tomorrow, to be followed by deliveries of water purification and sanitation equipment.

Millions in aid has already been pledged by the EU, Britain and Germany as well as Australia and NZ and other international groups.

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Video: Typhoon Haiyan Aftermath: death toll could be over 10,000

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Video: Typhoon ravages The Philippines city of Tacloban

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Video: Winds of Typhoon 

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Video: Super Typhoon Haiyan 

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Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm on earth this year, approximately 600 kilometres (372 miles) wide, has slammed into the Philippines’ central islands forcing millions of people to move to safer ground and storm shelters, cutting power and phone lines, and grounding air and sea transport. The maximum category-five super typhoon, with destructive winds as fast as 195 mph with gusts up to 235 mph, has knocked out power in one entire province and cutting communications in the country’s central region of island provinces.