UPDATE, Nov. 11
Bodies were left strewn in the streets in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan, also known as Typhoon Yolanda, after the massive storm made landfall in the Philippines Friday.
Estimates of the dead have risen throughout the weekend, particularly for the hardest-hit province of Leyte where as many as 10,000 are believed to have been killed by one of -- if not the -- largest storms in recorded history to hit land.
The descriptions of scenes coming from survivors paint a hellish picture: a hand-drawn sign left at the front of St. Paul's Hospital in the city of Tacloban, the capital of Leyte, reading "No admissions. No supplies," families separated in the chaos and buildings flattened, are just some of those being reported from the ground, according to CNN. Click here to read the most updated news on Haiyan. _______
An official from The Philippines has confirmed that 100 people have died in Tacloban city, which was heavily hit by super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). The storm is now moving towards Vietnam.
Update- Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross told CNN that the death-toll in Philippines could easily cross 1,200.
Capt John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority told BBC that bodies are lying in the city badly hit by the monster storm. The death toll is likely to rise in the coming days as many parts of the country are still inaccessible.
About 20 million people are expected to be affected by the storm's fury. The region is still recovering from an earthquake that occurred last month, BBC reported.
"We expect the level of destruction caused by Typhoon Haiyan to be extensive and devastating, and sadly we fear that many lives will be lost," said Save the Children's Philippines director Anna Lindenfors, according to BBC.
Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr., at the Philippine Embassy in Washington said that search and rescue operations have begun in the islands of Samar, Leyte, Cebu and Panay.
The typhoon hit the island country at 4:40 a.m. local time with winds reaching 195 mph. Meteorologists say that the storm's incredible speed might have caused less severe damage than what was expected. The nation was spared of torrential rains and flooding as the storm made a quick exit, Reuters reported.
"We still have to see what kind of damage has been wrought by this disaster, but so far I am relieved to know [the death toll] is much, much lower than in previous typhoons," Cuisia told The Washington Post.
According to Jeff Masters from Weather Underground, the typhoon has weakened to a Category 4 storm and is now in the South China Sea, moving towards Vietnam.
The Philippines experiences an average of 20 typhoons a year. Yolanda was the 24th typhoon in 2013, Reuters said.
PHILIPPINES TYPHOON - Latest video now available amid reports death toll has passed 100. https://t.co/toegdQrmGc
— AP USVideoAlert (@AP_USVideoAlert) November 9, 2013
Fears of storm's destruction https://t.co/e0SEV9iGWG — CNN International (@cnni) November 9, 2013