Typhoon Haiyan: Thousands feared dead in Philippines

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Residents wait to be evacuated at the airport in Tacloban, Philippines, which was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan. (Odd Andersen / AFPGetty Images)

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Workers load bodies into a long trench for burial in Tacloban, Philippines. (Kevin Frayer / Getty Images)

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People wait to board flights at Tacloban airport in the Philippines, where thousands have been left homeless by Typhoon Haiyan. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images)

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Typhoon survivors wash appliances outside their damaged home in Tacloban, Philippines. (Aaron Favila / Associated Press )

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A Tacloban resident sits amid the remains of typhoon-wrecked homes. (Kevin Frayer / Getty Images)

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U.S. Marines arrive in Osprey aircraft to deliver aid at Tacloban airport in response to Typhoon Haiyan. (Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images)

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A woman carrying a child cries as other survivors of Typhoon Haiyan wait to board a C130 aircraft during the evacuation of hundreds of survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, Philippines. (Paula Bronstein / Getty Images)

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Stranded American missionaries are evacuated by the U.S. military in Leyte, Philippines. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

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A survivor from Tacloban, which was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, sits on the ground after disembarking a Philippine air force C-130 aircraft at the Villamor Airbase in Manila. (Vincent Yu / Associated Press)

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Typhoon Haiyan survivors hang signs from their necks as they queue up in the hopes of boarding a C-130 military transport plane in Tacloban, central Philippines. (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)

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A woman holding a child is surrounded by debris in an area devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in Leyte, Philippines. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

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Survivors wait in line to receive relief goods in an area devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in Leyte, Philippines. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

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Two people ride bikes through an area devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in Leyte, Philippines. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

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Survivors walk in typhoon-ravaged Tacloban city in central Philippines. (Aaron Favila / Associated Press)

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People walk among debris next to a ship washed ashore in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan at Anibong in Tacloban, the eastern island of Leyte on Monday. Hundreds of Philippine soldiers and police poured into a city devastated by Typhoon Haiyan to try to contain looting that threatens an emergency relief effort. (Noel Celis / AFP/Getty Images)

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Survivors move past the damages caused by Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, Leyte province, central Philippines on Monday. (Aaron Favila / Associated Press)

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Survivors look up at a military C-130 plane as it arrives at typhoon-ravaged Tacloban city, Leyte province in central Philippines on Monday. Stunned survivors of one of the most powerful typhoons ever to make landfall picked through the remains of their homes Monday and pleaded for food and medicine as the Philippines struggled to deal with what is likely its deadliest natural disaster. (Aaron Favila / Associated Press)

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Residents queue up to receive treatment and relief supplies at Tacloban airport Monday following Friday’s Typhoon Haiyan that lashed this city and several provinces in central Philippines. (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)

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An aerial image taken Monday from a Philippine air force helicopter shows the devastation of the first landfall by Typhoon Haiyan in Guiuan, Eastern Samar province, central Philippines. Authorities said at least 2 million people in 41 provinces had been affected by Friday’s Typhoon Haiyan and at least 23,000 houses had been damaged or destroyed. (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)

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This image taken by astronaut Karen L. Nyberg and released by NASA shows Typhoon Haiyan from the International Space Station on Saturday. More than 600,000 people were evacuated as Haiyan bore down on Vietnam, authorities said on Sunday, after the storm smashed through the Philippines on Friday leaving thousands feared dead and widespread devastation. (Karen L. Nyberg / AFP/Getty Images)

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Trees and telephone polls were upended by the storm. (Tara Yap, AFP/Getty Images)

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A Filipino boy stands among the debris of the super typhoon-devastated city of Tacloban, Leyte province. Philippine troops begin to retrieve bodies strewn in areas devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, which was feared to have killed more than 100 people. The most powerful cyclone in three decades battered the Philippines, killing a number of people and displacing over 718,000, disaster relief officials said. (FRANCIS R. MALASIG / EPA)

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Residents return to their houses after leaving an evacuation site in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, Phillipines. (NOEL CELIS, / AFPGetty Images)

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Bureau of Fire Protection volunteers in Manila pack relief goods bound for areas of the southern Philippines hit hard by powerful Typhoon Haiyan. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

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A resident walks past high waves pounding the sea wall amid strong winds as Typhoon Haiyan hit the city of Legaspi. (Charism Sayat / AFP/Getty Images)

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A mother and her children brave heavy rains as they head for an evacuation center amid strong winds as Typhoon Haiyan pounded Cebu City. ( AFP/Getty Images)

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A three-wheeled motorcycle maneuvers in floodwaters in Taguig city. The most powerful typhoon in three decades battered the Philippines, killing at least four people and displacing more than 718,000. (Francis R. Malasig / EPA)

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A house is engulfed by the storm surge brought about by powerful Typhoon Haiyan that hit Legazpi city. (Nelson Salting / Associated Press)

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Debris litter the road by the coastal village in Legazpi city following a storm surge brought about by powerful Typhoon Haiyan. (Nelson Salting / Associated Press)

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A resident runs past an uprooted tree amidst strong winds as Typhoon Haiyan pounded Cebu City in central Philippines. (AFP/Getty Images)

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An Indigenous Filipino Badjao tries to secures a wooden boat during a heavy downpour brought by Typhoon Haiyan in Cebu province. (JAY ROMMEL LABRA / EPA)

By Sunshine de Leon and Barbara Demick

Nov. 10, 2013 3:55 AM PT

MANILA, Philippines — The death toll from a powerful typhoon that swept away coastal villages in the Philippines with a tsunami-like force is likely in the thousands, and could top 10,000, officials said Sunday as grim reports filtered in from the provinces.

The typhoon Haiyan — also called Yolanda by Filipinos — blew through 36 provinces early Friday with gusts of up to 235 miles per hour.

More than 48 hours later, confusion reigned over the extent of the casualties and damage with many of the most desperate trapped in remote, mud-choked coastal towns without power, transportation or telephones.

PHOTOS: Typhoon Haiyan slams Philippines

The official death toll Sunday night remained at 151, but the relatively low number was a reflection of the difficulty in assessing the damages.

Police superintendent Elmer Soria told reporters that officials in Leyte province in the central Philippines had estimated 10,000 deaths and that in some areas 70% of structures had been destroyed. Television footage showed wooden houses in splinters, cars floating on their sides through floodwaters, upended trees and telephone polls and houses with their roofs blown off.

In Tacloban, a city of 220,000 that is the capital of Leyte province, officials said that more than 100 bodies had been found on the airport ground alone.

The homeless and injured meanwhile crowded around the airport hoping to escape, or at least to find food or fresh drinking water.

“People are walking like zombies looking for food,” Jenny Chu, a medical student in Leyte, was quoted by the Reuters news agency saying. “It’s like a movie.”

Reports trickled in from communities throughout the region of bodies lying out in the streets and floating in floodwaters.

“We just made a mass grave for 57 people,” a shaken mayor, Edgar Boco from the small coastal town of Hernani told reporters.

Approximately 80 U.S. Marines from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade stationed in Okinawa, Japan, were expected on Sunday evening, bringing with them two KC-130 aircraft, communications gear, and equipment.

“The U.S. Marines are happy to help in this time of tragedy,’’ said Capt. Josh Diddams, a Marine Corps spokesman.

As part of the Mutual Defense Treaty, the U.S. and Philippines conduct multiple bilateral training exercises to prepare for various scenarios, which include responding to natural disasters.

At Manila’s Villamor Airbase, dozens of Filipinos were waiting to secure seats on the air force’s C-130 transport planes.

Evangelista Sumalbag said she was sick with worry about her sister and daughter, a 28-year-old police officer in Tacloban.

“I can’t describe my feelings today. I don’t have contact and I don’t know what happened to them,” said Sumalbag, wiping tears from her eyes. “I don’t want to see the TV anymore, because it hurts me. I am unable to watch all that devastation.”

Philippine Interior Secretary Mar Roxas compared the ferocity of the typhoon to a tsunami, destroying everything in its path.

“From a helicopter, you can see the extent of devastation. From the shore and moving a kilometer inland, there are no structures standing. It was like a tsunami,” he was quoted by Reuters as saying. “I don’t know how to describe what I saw. It’s horrific.”

One of the most powerful storms on record, typhoon Haiyan is now headed toward Vietnam, where it is expected to make landfall local time on Monday. More than 600,000 people have evacuated in anticipation although it is hoped the storm will lose much of its force in its journey.

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De Leon reported from Manila and Demick from Beijing.