Tacloban , Philippines ( CNN ) -- People sift through debris in the dark , wading through murky puddles formed after frequent , heavy rain showers . Along some streets , groups sit among the stinking piles of wreckage , huddled around small fires cooking food . This is life in Tacloban . Or , more accurately , people 's attempts to hold onto life . So much has changed over the past six days in this Philippine city on the Pacific Ocean , some 575 kilometers ( 360 miles ) southeast of Manila . That 's when , early last Friday , Super Typhoon Haiyan stormed through with sustained winds of 315 kph ( 195 mph ) , and gusts of 380 kph ( 235 mph ) . Aid , troops head to Philippines , but will it be enough ? The evidence of Haiyan 's power is everywhere : Most buildings are damaged , if not destroyed . Bloated corpses of dogs lie on the ground , next to body bags containing human remains . While the intensity surprised some , most residents knew something big was coming . May May Gula , 30 , was among those who 'd heeded officials ' warnings and taken shelter at the Tacloban Convention Center . She and some others managed to get to the building 's higher levels when the devastating storm surge roared in from the sea . That last move may have saved their lives . Many who remained on the ground floor were killed or injured , according to Gula and her friend Lina Reforzado . By Thursday , Gula and her relatives huddled in a room on the building 's ground floor along with members of seven other families . Their homes destroyed , they and others have transformed the building into a living space of sorts . Clothes hang from the upper floors , and makeshift shelters constructed from storm debris have sprung up around it . Man 's desperate search for wife , child in Philippines . Finally on Thursday , they tasted rice -- the staple of Filipinos ' diets -- for the first time in a week , after it was given out at the convention center for the first time since the typhoon struck . But they said they did n't know when the next delivery might come . Nor do they know what they 'll do , or where they 'll go from here . Said Gula : `` We really do n't know what we 're going to do next . '' There are flickers of `` normal '' life around Tacloban . A pig shrieking as it 's being pushed into a building for slaughter . An animal carcass butchered in front of another structure . A few vendors selling pork . But for most , food remains desperately scarce . At the airport , you see large groups hoping to leave this shattered city . A queue of people , taking shelter from the fierce sun and intermittent rain under colorful umbrellas , snakes out of the remnants of the terminal building and into the wreckage-laden parking area . Some seem particularly in need of a quick exit . One man stands holding an intravenous drip for his wife , who sits on a chair clutching a pallid young child . No one knows whether they 'll make it out before it 's too late . How to help . CNN 's Greg Botelho contributed to this report .
Tacloban , Typhoon Haiyan , was devastated by Philippines . Some sought shelter at the Tacloban Convention Center , which was hit by storm surge . Haiyan is handed out there for the first time since the massive storm . People line up at the airport , hoping to leave the city .