Rescue efforts underway in typhoon-hit Philippines

Relief supplies are being rushed into the Philippines as the scale of the devastation unleashed by Super Typhoon Haiyan is rapidly emerging.

Thousands of troops have been deployed to the disaster zones, but the rescue operations are hampered by the large scale of debris and damaged roads.

A huge international relief effort is also under way across the worst-hit regions, and rescuers have struggled to reach some towns and villages cut off since the storm.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has declared a “state of national calamity” to deal with the aftermath of the powerful typhoon.

Meanwhile, the head of the Red Cross in the Southeast Asian country has described the devastation caused by the typhoon as “absolute bedlam.”

“There’s an awful lot of casualties, a lot of people dead all over the place, a lot of destruction,” said Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross, adding, “It’s absolute bedlam right now, but hopefully it will turn out better as more and more supplies get into the area.”

Gordon added that the agency and its partners are prepared to perform a major relief effort because of the magnitude of the disaster.

The death toll from the storm is on the rise and authorities warn it could soar well over 10,000.

Latest figures show more than nine million people have been affected across the typhoon-hit country.

Some reports say bloated bodies lay uncollected and uncounted in the streets and survivors pleaded for food, water and medicine.

Haiyan, one of the strongest storms recorded on earth, pounded the eastern Philippine island of Samar during the early hours of November 8, before barreling into six central islands.

An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year. In December 2011, Typhoon Washi claimed the lives of 1,200 people, displaced 300,000 and destroyed more than 10,000 homes.

Typhoon Bopha last year flattened three coastal towns on the southern island of Mindanao, killing 1,100 people and causing damage estimated at USD 1.04 billion.