{"id":16311,"date":"2013-11-09T04:11:55","date_gmt":"2013-11-09T04:11:55","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2013-11-09T04:11:55","modified_gmt":"2013-11-09T04:11:55","slug":"Red-Cross-estimates-1-200-dead-in-Philippines-due-to-Typhoon-Haiyan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=16311","title":{"rendered":"Red Cross estimates 1,200 dead in Philippines due to Typhoon Haiyan"},"content":{"rendered":"

At least 1,200 people were killed, according to an estimate from one Red Cross official.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Survivors of what was described as the largest storm ever to make landfall described towering waves that swept away all but the hardiest shelters.<\/p>\n

One resident of the hard-hit central Philippine city of Tacloban said he and others took refuge inside a parked Jeep to protect themselves from the storm, but the vehicle was swept away by a wall of water.<\/p>\n

Survivors were described as being in desperate need of clean drinking water and food as officials continue to survey the damage Friday\u2019s super typhoon left in its wake.<\/p>\n

Haiyan packed sustained winds of 147 mph<\/strong>, with gusts up to 170 mph, and heavy rains when it made landfall early Friday. By those measurements, Haiyan would be comparable to a strong Category 4 hurricane in the U.S., and nearly in the top category, a 5.<\/p>\n

Authorities said it flattened hundreds of homes and triggered mudslides, flash flooding and a storm surge with waves of up to 30 feet. Authorities said almost 800,000 people were evacuated to emergency shelters.<\/p>\n

So far, government officials have confirmed just 138 deaths. At least 118 of those were on hardest-hit Leyte Island, where Tacloban is located, national disaster agency spokesman Maj. Reynaldo Balido told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

But Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, said preliminary counts from teams on the ground indicated that at least 1,200 people had perished<\/strong> — 1,000 people in Tacloban and at least 200 more in the Samar province.<\/p>\n

Pang said the numbers came from preliminary reports by Red Cross teams on the ground.<\/p>\n