T H E C O R N E R

One of the fiercest typhoons ever recorded has devastated the central Philippines, leaving entire cities and towns in ruins and as many as 10,000 people dead. By early Monday, Typhoon Haiyan had veered to the northwest into the South China Sea, where it stalked northern Vietnam and southern China.


The fast-moving storm slammed into Leyte Island from the east on Friday. By Sunday, as the scale of the destruction became clear, Philippine authorities said it is near certain the death toll will rise substantially.

President Benigno Aquino declared a region-wide state of calamity. Offers of help came from as far away as the White House.

In a statement Sunday, President Barack Obama expressed America's sorrow and pledged "significant" humanitarian assistance. U.S. military assets were deployed Saturday to assist in the search for survivors.

By early Monday, the U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center placed Haiyan about 160 kilometers southeast of Hanoi, Vietnam. Forecasters said the storm was rapidly weakening as it tracked to the north-northwest at about 25 kilometers an hour.

 

Residents cover their nose from the smell of dead bodies in Tacloban city, Leyte province central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013.

On Sunday, in hard-hit Tacloban city, a Philippine community of 220,000 residents, reporters saw scores of flattened buildings and corpses hanging from trees and scattered along roadways flooded by a 4-meter storm surge. Looters in the wrecked city foraged Sunday for food, water and fuel, as the government began relief efforts and international aid began to materialize.

Most other communities along the storm's path remained without communications.

The international aid group Doctors Without Borders prepared Sunday to deploy dozens of medical personnel and logistic experts to neighboring Cebu Island in the coming days, along with 200 tons of medical and relief items.

But the group's relief organizers, along with those from United Nations offices in Manila, said they expect access to the hardest-hit areas to be limited for days because of wrecked infrastructure and communications links.

At the Vatican Sunday, Pope Francis urged the faithful to pray in silence for the typhoon's victims. He said he feels close to the Philippines, and he urged church followers and others to offer generous assistance to those impacted by the huge storm.
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