Typhoon Survivors

Survivors walk by a large ship after it was washed ashore by intense waves caused by powerful Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The city remains littered with debris from damaged houses as many complain of shortages of food and water and no electricity since Typhoon Haiyan slammed into their province. Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on record, slammed into six central Philippine islands on Friday, leaving a wide swath of destruction and scores of people dead. ( AP Photo/Aaron Favila )

 A resident walks inside a damaged home in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The city remains littered with debris from damaged homes as many complain of shortages of food and water and no electricity since Typhoon Haiyan slammed into their province. Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on record, slammed into six central Philippine islands on Friday, leaving a wide swath of destruction and scores of people dead. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Residents walk past damaged structures caused by typhoon Haiyan, in Tacloban city, Leyte province central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. Haiyan, one of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded, slammed into central Philippine provinces Friday leaving a wide swath of destruction and scores of people dead. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Other countries have also pledged millions of dollars in assistance. Australia has approved $9m in humanitarian aid to the Philippines, while New Zealand has pledged over $1m.  Kristalina Georgieva, the EU humanitarian aid commissioner, said relief efforts would be guided by three priorities.  "The first one is to get access to remote areas as quickly as possible, and the access issue is both transportation and also restoring telecommunications," she said  "The second, of course, is to get the immediate humanitarian assistance for people affected by this kind of disaster. And the next one would be shelter."  

The relief efforts are being focused on the eastern province of Leyte and and Tacloban, its capital.  Officials said looting was widespread and order was proving difficult to enforce, but correspondents say many ordinary people are simply scavenging for the food and water needed to survive.  Hundreds of soldiers have been deployed to try to restore order in Tacloban, but one resident told AFP that people were becoming violent out of desperation.  "I am afraid that in one week, people will be killing from hunger," high school teacher Andrew Pomeda, 36, said on Sunday.

Among the hardest hit places was the city of Tacloban, where the ferocity of the storm waves swept this ship ashore.

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.

In Manila, Philippine and US military personnel load relief goods for Tacloban. International rescue teams are heading for the area.

The typhoon - now downgraded to a tropical storm - has reached Vietnam, where hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino said there was a possibility that martial law or a state of emergency would be declared in the city.  In some areas, the dead are being buried in mass graves.  Typhoon Haiyan has now made landfall in Vietnam, near the tourist destination of Ha Long Bay, with sustained winds of up to 140 km/h (85mph).  Some 600,000 people were evacuated in northern provinces of the country. - BBC.