Typhoon leaves Philippines in a nightmare, crashes into Vietnam

After causing unimaginable devastation in Philippines, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the worst storms recorded in history, has made landfall in Vietnam.

Over 6,00,000 people have been evacuated in north-eastern Vietnam, where Typhoon Haiyan arrived on Monday, accompanied by powerful winds and strong waves.

As many as 1,200 people have been feared killed by the typhoon in Philippines, according to the country’s Red Cross, but authorities warn that the toll may rise considerably.

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Several remote pockets in the island of Leyte, the worst hit region in the nation, have been completely cut off in the aftermath of the storm.

The death toll due to Typhoon Haiyan may cross 10,000, fear rescue workers.

Tacloban, a city of over 2 lakh people, has been nearly flattened by the devastating typhoon.

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“I have not spoken to anyone who has not lost someone, a relative close to them. We are looking for as many as we can," CNN quoted Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez as saying.

Local expressed their ire against government officials who, according to them, had failed to respond to the massive calamity in time.

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"Get international help to come here now -- not tomorrow, now," CNN quoted a survivor as saying.

Philippines President Benigno Aquino III on Sunday undertook an aerial survey of some of the worst-hit areas.

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He defended the slow response of his administration by claiming that “too many” local officials had also been affected by the mishap.

Government buildings, made of sturdier material than local houses, remain among the few structures left standing in Tacloban.

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The Philippines government has sent several C-130 aircraft -- carrying food, water and medical supplies -- to Leyte.

Many of these planes have also been tasked with ferrying the worst-affected and the wounded out of the island.

Serpentine queues were witnessed outside Tacloban airport, where thousands of people, carrying whatever was left of their possessions, pleaded with authorities to help them leave the island.

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Meanwhile, the search for food, water and medical help became more desperate in Tacloban, where several incidents of looting in grocery stores and ATM machines were reported.

The Aquino administration has sent hundreds of army personnel to keep the law and order situation under control in the region.

According to media reports, the only hospital in functioning condition in Tacloban after the storm is being forced to turn away injured victims, as it has no room left for them.

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While injured victims lay in the cramped corridors of the hospital, doctors admitted that they were in dire need of medical supplies.

"We haven't anything left to help people with. We have to get supplies in immediately," CNN quoted one of them as saying.

Large sections of Leyte have also been plunged into darkness as power lines were knocked out by the angry typhoon.

Authorities fear that given the scale of devastation in the area, rebuilding the infrastructural set-up and restoring power lines may “take months”.

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Lynette Lim, the Asia communications manager for Save the Children, told the UK Telegraph, “"Most of the families who had decided to evacuate ahead of the storm left one member behind to guard their homes and possessions. Unfortunately, most of them died."

She also pointed out that many locals in the area had refused to evacuate despite early warnings as they had witnessed several storms earlier and had never expected a typhoon of such nightmarish proportions.

"They told me they had seen typhoons before and that they never imagined a storm could be as bad as this one," Telegraph quoted her as saying.

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