CLOSE Haiyan was downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm by the time it hit Vietnam early Monday. The storm may have killed 10,000 people in the Philippines. (Nov. 11) AP 
 
 If the typhoon death toll is confirmed, it would be the deadliest natural catastrophe on record in the Philippines. 
 
 An aerial view of buildings destroyed in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan on Sunday over the Leyte province, Philippines. (Photo: Getty Images/Ryan Lim, Malacanang Photo Bureau) Story Highlights A mass burial was planned Sunday in Palo town near Tacloban 
 
 U.S. military's Pacific Command directed to deploy ships and aircraft to support search-and-rescue operations 
 
 In Vietnam, emergency responders are shifting gears as Haiyan's forecasted path has moved northward 
 
 MANILA — Typhoon-ravaged Philippine islands faced a huge relief effort Monday as bodies lay in the streets and survivors pleaded for food, water and medicine. 
 
 Police guarded stores to prevent people from taking TVs and treadmills in Tacloban, the worst-hit city. 
 
 Philippines officials said that Friday's typhoon may have killed 10,000 or more people but with the slow pace of recovery the official death toll remained well below that. 
 
 A weakened Typhon Haiyan made it way across the border from northern Vietnam into China's Guanxi province late Monday morning with sustained winds of 75 mph, the equivalent of a Category One hurricane. While the system produced heavy rainfall of up to 12 inches in some areas and strong winds, damage was relatively limited. 
 
 The Philippine military confirmed nearly 1,000 dead but broken communications and transportation links meant that no one was able to assess damage in many villages in need of food, water and medical help. 
 
 Tacloban resembled a garbage dump from the air and only by a few concrete buildings that remained standing. 
 
 "I don't believe there is a single structure that is not destroyed or severely damaged in some way — every single building, every single house," U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy said after taking a helicopter flight over the city. He spoke on the tarmac at the airport, where two Marine C-130 cargo planes were parked, engines running, unloading supplies. 
 
 Authorities said at least 9.7 million people in 41 provinces were affected by the typhoon. It's one of the most powerful recorded typhoons to ever hit land and likely the deadliest natural disaster to hit the Philippines. Entire villages were destroyed and cities devastated by huge waves and winds of nearly 150 mph. 
 
 Philippine soldiers were distributing food and water in Tacloban, and assessment teams from the United Nations and other international agencies were seen for the first time. The U.S. military dispatched food, water, generators and a contingent of Marines to the city, the first outside help in what will swell into a major international relief mission. 
 
 "This area has been totally ravaged," said Sebastien Sujobert, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Tacloban. "Many lives were lost, a huge number of people are missing, and basic services such as drinking water and electricity have been cut off," he said. 
 
 A weakened but still powerful Haiyan was churning through the South China Sea and made landfall in northern Vietnam, which evacuated tens of thousands of people. 
 
 At the White House, President Obama said he and his wife Michelle said they are "deeply saddened'' by the death and damage in the Philippines and said the United States is assisting relief and recovery efforts. He praised the country's people for "incredible resiliency.'' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Downed power lines and debris block the road in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan on Sunday in Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines. (Photo: Jeoffrey Maitem, Getty Images) 
 
 In the Philippines, authorities were still trying to get to islands that no one had been able to communicate with since the typhoon struck. 
 
 Frantic relatives crowded into the Villamor Air Base in Manila to wait for transport planes that were rescuing people from at least six of the archipelago's more than 7,000 islands that were hit hardest. 
 
 Maritess Tayag, in her 40s, and her sister, Maryann, 29, arrived at the airport dizzy, shaken and thirsty but elated to be alive. They came from their home in Tacloban on the island of Leyte, one of the hardest hit. 
 
 "I was in the house — trapped in my room. The water is up to my nose — I cannot breathe anymore. I am trying to save myself," said Maritess Tayag, describing the early hours of Saturday when ceaseless wind drove dark seawater mixed with foul-smelling water from canals higher and higher into their homes. 
 
 CLOSE Death toll could reach 10,000 as disaster relief heads for the Philippines after the devastating Typhoon Haiyan, officials said on Sunday. VPC 
 
 Her brother was in the house, too, trying to keep his head above the rising water, she said. But, "It reached up over his head. Then a big wave of fast flood reached up higher. 
 
 "I feel I would die at this moment because I can't — I don't know what I will do," Tayag said, crying. 
 
 Her younger sister and sister-in-law made it to the roof. Her brother and mother did not, she said, and both are probably dead. 
 
 Maryann Tayag described their town as looking as if it was a "World War II city" and said everyone was trying to flee in fear. 
 
 "It was almost a stampede at the airport in Tacloban," she said. "Everyone was trying to get on the plane. It's really, really terrible." 
 
 It was not until Sunday that authorities communicated with Leyte island. The sisters said there was no power or phone service. They said they saw looting everywhere. Food and water are almost non-existent, they said. 
 
 "It's all washed out ... including the hospitals and malls, by the strong winds and floods that came," Maritess Tayag said. 
 
 "The hardest thing is ... seeing your mother floating in the flood and you don't know what to do. You just see there and the only thing is you have to save yourself," Maryann Tayag said. "I could not save her because she drowned already, and it was not just water from the sea but mixed with dirty water — color black, like it came from river and smell like canal." 
 
 STORY: Relatives search for survivors 
 
 STORY: How you can help 
 
 Regional Police Chief Elmer Soria said he was briefed by Leyte provincial Gov. Dominic Petilla late Saturday and told there were about 10,000 deaths on the island, mostly by drowning and collapsed buildings. The governor's figure was based on reports from village officials in areas where Typhoon Haiyan hit Friday. 
 
 Tacloban city administrator Tecson Lim said that the death toll in the city "could go up to 10,000." A mass burial was planned Sunday in Palo town near Tacloban. 
 
 After two days with no news from her family, elementary teacher Cherry Gonzaga left her home in Manila for Cebu for a late-night ferry to Leyte island. 
 
 "There's no way to get through to them, and my entire family is there, 15 people," said Gonzaga, 24, as she waited for tickets at a pier with dozens of other Filipinos desperate to learn their relatives are safe. 
 
 If the typhoon death toll is confirmed, it would be the deadliest natural catastrophe on record in the Philippines, topping both the 5,100 killed by Tropical Storm Thelma in November 1991 and the 5,791 killed after a magnitude-7.9 earthquake triggered a tsunami in the Moro Gulf in the southern Philippines in 1976. 
 
 STORY: U.S. aid on the way 
 
 Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said President Benigno Aquino III was "speechless" when he told him of the devastation in Tacloban. 
 
 "I told him all systems are down," Gazmin said. "There is no power, no water, nothing. People are desperate. They're looting." 
 
 In Vietnam, emergency responders are shifting gears as Haiyan's forecasted path has moved northward, leaving residents in the central part of the country breathing a sigh of relief. 
 
 STORY: Vietnam prepares for storm 
 
 Francis Markus, spokesman for the Red Cross in Vietnam said that the unpredictable trajectory of the storm has stretched the country's emergency response resources thin, creating new challenges as preparations have shifted from the center to the north of the country. 
 
 And while the central area was spared the brunt of Haiyan, Vietnam remained on high alert as the deadly typhoon neared. 
 
 "We don't really have an idea of the severity with which this northern region is going to be hit," Markus said. "I think everybody's been very shocked by the horror of the impact of Haiyan in the Philippines and it means we really have to do the maximum to prepare for it in Vietnam and in China and certainly not be complacent." 
 
 Contributing: Tom Maresca from Ho Chi Minh City; Doyle Rice from McLean, Va.; and the Associated Press 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1cbxRKz ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption ''We are so very hungry and thirsty'' one survivor told the BBC's Jon Donnison in Tacloban 
 
 The head of the Red Cross in the Philippines has described the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan as "absolute bedlam". 
 
 Officials estimate up to 10,000 people have died in Tacloban city and elsewhere. Hundreds of thousands of people are displaced. 
 
 Rescue efforts are being hindered by damage to roads and airports. 
 
 The storm has now made landfall in north Vietnam, near the Chinese border, but has weakened to a tropical storm. 
 
 One of the most powerful storms on record to make landfall, Haiyan - named "Yolanda" by Filipino authorities - barrelled into the eastern coastal provinces of Leyte and Samar on Friday. 
 
 It then headed west, sweeping through six central Philippine islands. 
 
 Supplies 
 
 At the scene Tacloban has been flattened. Driving down the main high street, hardly a single building is left standing. People say this town was hit by a wall of water when the typhoon hit on Friday. There is the stench of rotting corpses. Driving in from the airport, we saw scores of bodies lying by the roadside. For three days they have been there, with no one to bury them. People are desperate for food, clean water and shelter. At the badly battered airport, a makeshift hospital has been set up. We saw two young women giving birth, laid out among the debris. Aid is getting in, but slowly. And this is just one town, in one province. No-one knows the full extent of the devastation elsewhere. 
 
 More than nine million people have been affected in the Philippines. Many are now struggling to survive without food, shelter or clean drinking water. 
 
 A picture is slowly emerging of the full damage wrought by the storm: 
 
 The exposed easterly town of Guiuan, Samar province - population 40,000 - is said to be largely destroyed 
 
 province - population 40,000 - is said to be largely destroyed Tacloban, Leyte province, was largely flattened by a massive storm surge and scores of corpses are piled by the roadside, leaving a stench in the air as they rot, say correspondents. Hundreds of people have gathered at the airport desperate for food and water, others trying to get a flight out 
 
 province, was largely flattened by a massive storm surge and scores of corpses are piled by the roadside, leaving a stench in the air as they rot, say correspondents. Hundreds of people have gathered at the airport desperate for food and water, others trying to get a flight out Disaster worker Dennis Chong told the BBC that assessments in the far north of Cebu province had shown some towns had suffered "80-90% damage" 
 
 province had shown some towns had suffered "80-90% damage" Baco, a city of 35,000 in Oriental Mindoro province, was 80% under water, the UN said. 
 
 A huge international relief effort is under way, but rescue workers have struggled to reach some towns and villages cut off since the storm. 
 
 People are not receiving food or water... I'm worried it may become a mob situation - we need the military to get there as soon as possible Kevin Vacca, US missionary, Maya, northern Cebu US missionary delivers aidSurvivor's story 
 
 "There's an awful lot of casualties, a lot of people dead all over the place, a lot of destruction," Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross, told the BBC. 
 
 "It's absolute bedlam right now, but hopefully it will turn out better as more and more supplies get into the area." 
 
 "The situation is bad: the devastation has been significant. In some cases the devastation has been total," Secretary to the Cabinet Rene Almendras told a news conference. 
 
 Mr Gordon said roads had now been cleared to allow relief workers to get to some of the hardest hit areas, but that they expected to find many more casualties. 
 
 "It's only now that they were able to get in and we're beginning just to bring in the necessary food items... as well as water and other things that they need." 
 
 Forecasters predicted a tropical depression would move into the south and central Philippines on Tuesday, potentially bringing heavy rains that would further hamper relief efforts. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Aerial footage shows devastation in Tanauan, Tacloban and Cebu 
 
 Jane Cocking, the humanitarian director for Oxfam, said her colleagues witnessed "complete devastation... entire parts of the coastline just disappeared, and sizable trees just bent over and [were] thrown about like matchsticks." 
 
 A Philippine military spokesman was quoted as saying on Monday that 942 people had died in the typhoon's aftermath, though it is clear the official death toll will rise significantly. 
 
 Almost 630,000 people have been reported displaced. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Three days after Typhoon Haiyan hit, aerial photos are revealing a scene of apocalyptic devastation along a swathe of the central Philippines. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Among the hardest hit places was the city of Tacloban, where the ferocity of the storm waves swept this ship ashore. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption 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. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption In Manila, Philippine and US military personnel load relief goods for Tacloban. International rescue teams are heading for the area. 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption The typhoon - now downgraded to a tropical storm - has reached Vietnam, where hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated. 
 
 'Unprecedented' storm 
 
 Some are questioning what more authorities could have done to prepare for this, just the latest in a string of disasters to hit the nation of more than 7,000 islands. 
 
 The world has not seen a storm like this before Senen Mangalile, Philippines Consul General to the UK Your pictures: DevastationUK aid for victims 
 
 Authorities had evacuated hundreds of thousands of people before the typhoon arrived, but many evacuation centres - schools, churches and government buildings - proved unable to withstand the winds and storm surges. 
 
 Many survivors in stricken areas heeded official urgings to stockpile supplies - but found that they were washed away along with the rest of their possessions. 
 
 Haiyan brought sustained winds of 235km/h (147mph), with gusts of 275 km/h (170 mph), with waves as high as 15m (45ft), bringing up to 400mm (15.75 inches) of rain in places. 
 
 "The world has not seen a storm like this before," said Senen Mangalile, the Philippines Consul General to the UK. 
 
 Steven Godby, a disaster management expert at Nottingham Trent University, told the BBC the typhoon was "probably the most intense and strongest storm of this type to make landfall". 
 
 International aid Australia : Aus$10m ($9.4m; £5.8m), including medical personnel 
 
 : Aus$10m ($9.4m; £5.8m), including medical personnel China : $200,000 (£125,000) 
 
 : $200,000 (£125,000) European Commission : 3m euros (£2.5m; $4m) 
 
 : 3m euros (£2.5m; $4m) Indonesia : Aircraft, personnel, drinking water, food, generators, medicine 
 
 : Aircraft, personnel, drinking water, food, generators, medicine Japan : 25 emergency medical personnel 
 
 : 25 emergency medical personnel New Zealand : NZ$2.15m (£1.1m) 
 
 : NZ$2.15m (£1.1m) Taiwan : $200,000 
 
 : $200,000 UK : £6m ($9.6m) non-food aid package 
 
 : £6m ($9.6m) non-food aid package UN World Food Programme : an initial $2m 
 
 : an initial $2m US : 90 marines and sailors; emergency food, water, shelter and hygiene materials 
 
 : 90 marines and sailors; emergency food, water, shelter and hygiene materials Vietnam: $100,000 This list is not comprehensive 
 
 "We've seen storms like this perhaps on rare occasions that have had that kind of intensity out at sea but for it to come ashore with that kind of strength is almost unprecedented," Dr Godby said. 
 
 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," secondary school teacher Andrew Pomeda, 36, said on Sunday. 
 
 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. 
 
 American military aircraft and ships are being deployed to provide help. Aid is being flown into the only regional international airport at Cebu, with relief efforts focusing on Tacloban. 
 
 Deadly typhoons Sept 1937 Hong Kong typhoon - 11,000 dead 
 
 - 11,000 dead Sept 1959 Typhoon Vera - deadliest to hit Japan, killing 5,238 people 
 
 - deadliest to hit Japan, killing 5,238 people Aug 1975 Typhoon Nina - about 229,000 die in China after collapse of Banqiao dam 
 
 - about 229,000 die in China after collapse of Banqiao dam Nov 1991 Typhoon Thelma - deadliest in the Philippines to date, killing 5-8,000 
 
 US President Barack Obama has issued a message saying he was "deeply saddened by the loss of life and extensive damage". 
 
 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: to establish access, then offer immediate aid, then shelter. 
 
 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. ||||| TACLOBAN, Philippines Rescue workers struggled to reach ravaged towns and villages in the central Philippines on Monday as they tried to deliver aid to survivors of a powerful typhoon that killed an estimated 10,000 people and displaced more than 600,000. 
 
 The United Nations said some survivors had no food, water or medicine. Relief operations were hampered because roads, airports and bridges had been destroyed or were covered in wreckage, it said. 
 
 President Benigno Aquino, facing one of the biggest challenges of his three-year rule, deployed soldiers to the devastated city of Tacloban to quell looting and said he might impose martial law or a state of emergency to ensure security. 
 
 Super typhoon Haiyan destroyed about 70 to 80 percent of structures in its path as it tore through Leyte province on Friday, said police chief superintendent Elmer Soria. After weakening, the storm headed west towards Vietnam. 
 
 Huge waves from one of the strongest storms ever recorded swept away coastal villages. Some officials likened the destruction to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. 
 
 "From a helicopter, you can see the extent of devastation. From the shore and moving a kilometer inland, there are no structures standing. It was like a tsunami," said Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas, who was in Tacloban, Leyte's capital, before the typhoon struck. 
 
 "I don't know how to describe what I saw. It's horrific." 
 
 The Philippines government and disaster agency have not confirmed the latest estimate of the number of deaths from the storm, whose sustained winds reached 195 miles per hour (313 km per hour) with gusts of up to 235 mph. 
 
 Soria, quoting local officials, said the estimated death toll so far was 10,000. That could climb once rescuers reach remote villages along the coast. 
 
 Nearly 620,000 people were displaced and 9.5 million "affected" across nine regions, the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement. Local officials observed one mass grave of between 300 to 500 bodies in one area of Tacloban alone, it added. 
 
 About 300 people died in neighboring Samar province, said an official of the provincial disaster agency. 
 
 Across Tacloban, men, women and children walked carefully over splintered remains of wooden houses, searching for missing loved ones and belongings. Not one building seems to have escaped damage in the coastal city of 220,000 people, about 580 km (360 miles) southeast of Manila. 
 
 Witnesses and officials described chaotic scenes. The city and nearby villages were flooded, leaving floating bodies and roads choked with debris from fallen trees, tangled power lines and flattened homes. 
 
 Survivors queued in lines, waiting for handouts of rice and water. Some sat and stared, covering their faces with rags to keep out the smell of the dead from one of the worst disasters to hit the typhoon-prone Southeast Asian nation. 
 
 One woman, eight months pregnant, described through tears how her 11 family members had vanished, including two daughters. "I can't think right now," she said. "I am overwhelmed." 
 
 U.S. MARINES ON WAY 
 
 About 90 U.S. Marines and sailors headed to the Philippines in a first wave of promised military assistance for relief efforts, U.S. officials said. President Barack Obama said the United States was ready to provide additional aid. 
 
 U.S. aid groups also launched a multimillion-dollar relief campaign. One group, World Vision, said a shipment of blankets and plastic tarpaulins would arrive from Germany on Monday as a first step in its plan to help 400,000 people. 
 
 An official of World Vision based in Cebu Province said there were early reports that as much as 90 percent of northern Cebu had been destroyed. 
 
 An aid team from Oxfam reported "utter destruction" in the northern-most tip of Cebu, the charity said. 
 
 The United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, said it was rushing emergency supplies to the Philippines. 
 
 "Reaching the worst affected areas is very difficult, with limited access due to the damage caused by the typhoon to infrastructure and communications," UNICEF Philippines Representative Tomoo Hozumi said in a statement. 
 
 Most of the storm deaths appeared to have been caused by surging sea water strewn with debris that many said resembled a tsunami. Tacloban lies in a cove where the seawater narrows, making it susceptible to storm surges. 
 
 AQUINO SENDS IN TROOPS 
 
 Aquino said the government had deployed 300 soldiers and police to restore order in Tacloban. 
 
 Looters rampaged through several stores in the city, witnesses said. A TV station said ATM machines were broken open. 
 
 Mobs attacked trucks loaded with food, tents and water on Tanauan bridge in Leyte, said Philippines Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon. 
 
 "Tonight, a column of armored vehicles will be arriving in Tacloban to show the government's resolve and to stop this looting," Aquino said on Sunday. 
 
 Aquino has shown exasperation at conflicting reports on damage and deaths. One TV network quoted him as telling the head of the disaster agency that he was running out of patience. 
 
 "How can you beat that typhoon?" said defense chief Voltaire Gazmin, when asked whether the government had been ill-prepared. 
 
 "It's the strongest on Earth. We've done everything we can, we had lots of preparation. It's a lesson for us." 
 
 The U.N.'s OCHA said aerial surveys showed significant damage to coastal areas with heavy ships thrown ashore, houses destroyed and vast tracts of agricultural land "decimated". 
 
 The destruction extended well beyond Tacloban. 
 
 Officials had yet to make contact with Guiuan, a town of 40,000 people that was first hit. Baco, a city of 35,000 in Oriental Mindoro province, was 80 percent under water, the U.N. said. 
 
 There were reports of damage across much of the Visayas, a region of eight major islands, including Leyte, Cebu and Samar. 
 
 Many tourists were stranded. "Seawater reached the second floor of the hotel," said Nancy Chang, who was on a business trip from China in Tacloban City and walked three hours through mud and debris for a military-led evacuation at the airport. 
 
 "It's like the end of the world." 
 
 Six people were killed and dozens wounded during heavy winds and storms in central Vietnam as Haiyan approached the coast, state media reported, even though it had weakened substantially since hitting the Philippines. 
 
 Vietnam authorities have moved 883,000 people in 11 central provinces to safe zones, according to the government's website. ($1 = 43.1900 Philippine pesos) 
 
 (Additional reporting by Rosemarie Francisco and Karen Lema in Manila and Phil Stewart and Charles Abbott in Washington. Writing by Dean Yates; Editing by Christopher Wilson and Mark Bendeich) ||||| Stunned survivors of one of the most powerful typhoons ever to make landfall picked through the remains of their homes Monday, pleading for food and medicine as the Philippines struggled to deal with what may turn out to be its deadliest natural disaster. 
 
 Map locates the Samar, Leyte and Cebu Islands of the Philippines, and the city of Tacloban, the hardest-hit areas; 2c x 5.5 inches; with ; SBM; ETA 3:30 p.m.; 2c x 5 1/2 inches; 96.3 mm x 139 mm; (Associated Press) 
 
 Survivors walk by a large ship after it was washed ashore by strong waves caused by powerful Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The city remains... (Associated Press) 
 
 The devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan, are seen Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013, in Tacloban city, Leyte province in central Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on record, slammed into... (Associated Press) 
 
 A resident looks at houses damaged 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... (Associated Press) 
 
 A boy carries relief goods, walking past the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan, in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful... (Associated Press) 
 
 A woman looks out from the remains of her damaged house in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The city remains littered with debris from damaged homes as many... (Associated Press) 
 
 Residents put up a makeshift structure amongst damaged homes in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The city remains littered with debris from damaged homes as... (Associated Press) 
 
 Residents try to salvage belongings 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... (Associated Press) 
 
 Residents carry relief goods past damaged homes in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The city remains littered with debris from damaged homes as many complain... (Associated Press) 
 
 Residents push a shutter to open a small grocery to get food in Tacloban city, Leyte province central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The city remains littered with debris from damaged homes as... (Associated Press) 
 
 This photo released by the Malacanang Photo Bureau shows an aerial view of Tacloban city, Leyte province in central Philippines Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013, after Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the region in the Philippines.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Faithful pray for the typhoon's victims during the Pope Francis' Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The Pontiff has led tens of thousands of people at the Vatican... (Associated Press) 
 
 Residents walk past the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013, in Daanbantayan town, north Cebu, central Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on record, slammed... (Associated Press) 
 
 Residents cover their nose from the smell of dead bodies in Tacloban city, Leyte province central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The city remains littered with debris from damaged homes as many... (Associated Press) 
 
 A ship lies on top of damaged homes after it was washed ashore in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The city remains littered with debris from damaged homes... (Associated Press) 
 
 A store owner aims his gun to prevent a mob of people who tried to storm his grocery in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The city remains littered with debris... (Associated Press) 
 
 Residents salvage belongings from their damaged houses in Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The city remains littered with debris from damaged homes as many... (Associated Press) 
 
 Residents push dead bodies on a cart after strong waves caused by Typhoon Haiyan slammed into Tacloban city, Leyte province central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest... (Associated Press) 
 
 This photo released by the Malacanang Photo Bureau shows an aerial view of Tacloban city, Leyte province in central Philippines Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013, after Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the region in the Philippines.... (Associated Press) 
 
 A resident sits her roofless house, after typhoon Haiyan hit the town, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013, in Daanbantayan town, north Cebu, central Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on... (Associated Press) 
 
 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... (Associated Press) 
 
 Resident walk past damaged houses 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... (Associated Press) 
 
 Residents carry relief goods along the bay 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... (Associated Press) 
 
 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,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Authorities at least 2 million people in 41 provinces had been affected by Friday's disaster and at least 23,000 houses had been damaged or destroyed. In parts of the coast, large areas had been transformed into twisted piles of debris, with decomposing bodies trapped underneath. 
 
 "In some cases the devastation has been total," said Secretary to the Cabinet Rene Almendras. 
 
 The official death toll stood at just over 250 people, but two provincial officials said Sunday it could reach 10,000 or more. On Monday, the central government said it was still trying to come up with an accurate tally. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said "we pray" that it wouldn't hit 10,000. 
 
 "Please tell my family I'm alive," said Erika Mae Karakot, a survivor on Leyte island, as she lined up for aid. "We need water and medicine because a lot of the people we are with are wounded. Some are suffering from diarrhea and dehydration due to shortage of food and water." 
 
 The U.S. military dispatched water, generators and a contingent of Marines to the worst-hit city along the country's remote eastern seaboard, the first outside help in what will swell into a major international relief mission in the coming days. 
 
 Two U.S. C-130 transport planes flew from Manila's Vilamor air base to Tacloban, a city in Leyte province that was badly hit by the storm. From the air, the city resembled a garbage dump punctuated by a few concrete buildings that remained standing. 
 
 "We are moving in supplies for the Filipino government," said Marine Capt. Cassandra Gesecki . "That's what they asked us to do." 
 
 Survivors wandered through the remains of their flattened wooden homes looking to salvage belongings or to search for loved ones. An Associated Press reporter in the town said he saw around 400 special forces and soldiers patrolling its downtown area, where residents have been seen breaking into malls, shops and homes, taking food, water and consumer goods. 
 
 Haiyan hit the eastern seaboard of the Philippines on Friday and quickly barreled across its central islands, packing winds of 235 kph (147 mph) that gusted to 275 kph (170 mph), and a storm surge of 6 meters (20 feet). 
 
 Even though authorities had evacuated some 800,000 people ahead of the typhoon, the death toll was predicted to be high because many evacuation centers _ brick-and-mortar schools, churches and government buildings _ could not withstand the winds and water surges. Officials said people who had huddled in these buildings drowned or were swept away. 
 
 It inflicted serious damage to at least six islands in the middle of the eastern seaboard, with Leyte, Samar and the northern part of Cebu appearing to bear the brunt of the storm. 
 
 Video from Eastern Samar province's Guiuan township _ the first area where the typhoon made landfall _ also showed a trail of devastation similar to Tacloban. Many houses were flattened and roads were strewn with debris and uprooted trees. The ABS-CBN video showed several bodies on the street, covered with blankets. 
 
 "I have no house, I have no clothes. I don't know how I will restart my life, I am so confused," an unidentified woman said, crying. "I don't know what happened to us. We are appealing for help. Whoever has a good heart, I appeal to you _ please help Guiuan." 
 
 The United Nations said it was sending supplies but access to the worst hit areas was a challenge. 
 
 "Reaching the worst affected areas is very difficult, with limited access due to the damage caused by the typhoon to infrastructure and communications," said UNICEF Philippines Representative Tomoo Hozumi. 
 
 The storm's sustained winds weakened to 120 kph (74 mph) as the typhoon made landfall in northern Vietnam early Monday after crossing the South China Sea, according to the Hong Kong meteorological observatory. Authorities there evacuated hundreds of thousands of people, but there were no reports of significant damage or injuries. 
 
 It was downgraded to a tropical storm as it entered southern China later Monday, but weather officials forecast torrential rain over the coming 24 hours across southern China. Guangxi officials advised fishermen to stay onshore. 
 
 President Benigno Aquino III said he was considering declaring a state of emergency or martial law in Tacloban. A state of emergency usually includes curfews, price and food supply controls, military or police checkpoints and increased security patrols. 
 
 Challenged to respond to a disaster of such magnitude, the Philippine government also accepted help from abroad. 
 
 Pope Francis led tens of thousands of people at the Vatican in prayer for the victims. The Philippines has the largest number of Catholics in Asia, and Filipinos are one of Rome's biggest immigrant communities. 
 
 The Philippines, an archipelago nation of more than 7,000 islands, is annually buffeted by tropical storms and typhoons, which are called hurricanes and cyclones elsewhere. The nation is in the northwestern Pacific, right in the path of the world's No. 1 typhoon generator, according to meteorologists. The archipelago's exposed eastern seaboard often bears the brunt. 
 
 Even by the standards of the Philippines, however, Haiyan is a catastrophe of epic proportions and has shocked the impoverished and densely populated nation of 96 million people. Its winds were among the strongest ever recorded, and it appears to have killed more people than the previous deadliest Philippine storm, Thelma, in which about 5,100 people died in the central Philippines in 1991. 
 
 The country's deadliest disaster on record was the 1976 magnitude-7.9 earthquake that triggered a tsunami in the Moro Gulf in the southern Philippines, killing 5,791 people. 
 
 Tacloban, in the east-central Philippines, is near the Red Beach on Leyte Island where U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur waded ashore in 1944 during World War II and fulfilled his famous pledge: "I shall return." 
 
 It was the first city liberated from the Japanese by U.S. and Filipino forces and served as the Philippines' temporary capital for several months. It is also the hometown of former Filipino first lady Imelda Marcos, whose nephew, Alfred Romualdez, is the city's mayor. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Oliver Teves and Teresa Cerojano in Manila, Minh Tran in Hanoi, Vietnam, and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.
– In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, President Benigno Aquino has today declared a "state of national calamity," which will speed up the release of emergency funds and set price controls on grocery staples. Outside help is beginning to reach parts of the central Philippines, as more horrific stories of the monster storm emerge—along with one of hope: The much-suffering Tacloban, where authorities fear the death toll could be as high as 10,000, experienced the smallest bit of good news today: A 21-year-old survivor gave birth to a baby girl at the city's airport. Cheers broke out when the healthy baby was delivered to Emily Ortega, who had to swim and cling to a post to survive when the storm surge flooded the emergency center she was in. The AFP reports the child has been named Bea Joy, after Ortega's mother, Beatriz, who was swept away by the waters. The US military has sent water, generators, and a contingent of around 90 Marines and sailors to Tacloban, the AP reports. They are at the forefront of a major international relief mission centered on the city, where few buildings are left standing and corpses are scattered in the streets. The Philippine military has sent soldiers to the city amid reports that desperate survivors have attacked trucks (including, reportedly, a Red Cross truck) carrying food and water. A survivor in Tacloban describes a desperate fight to stay alive after the storm flooded her home, drowning her mother and brother. "The hardest thing is ... seeing your mother floating in the flood and you don't know what to do. You just see (her) there and the only thing is you have to save yourself," Maryann Tayag tells USA Today. "I could not save her because she drowned already, and it was not just water from the sea but mixed with dirty water—black, like it came from river and smell like canal." The UN estimates 620,000 people were displaced by the typhoon, which caused a surge of debris-choked seawater that resembled a tsunami, Reuters reports. The BBC shares more numbers: Wind gusts hit 170mph, and waves reached as high as 45 feet; as much as 15.75 inches of rain fell in places. One disaster management expert has this to say: Haiyan was "probably the most intense and strongest storm of this type to make landfall." The confirmed death toll was at 942 as of this morning, reports the AP, though that number is expecting to grow much larger. With 41 of the country's 80 provinces hurting in the wake of the storm, rescue workers are struggling to reach devastated areas. Officials have been unable to contact Guiuan, a town of 40,000 people that was one of the first in the typhoon's path. Haiyan, which has now weakened to a tropical storm, still packed a punch as it made landfall in northern Vietnam today, with winds approaching 100mph, the BBC reports. Some 600,000 people have been evacuated and there are fears of widespread flooding in Hanoi. Vietnamese authorities say 11 people have been killed, including people killed during preparations for the storm.