Death toll rises to more than 1000 in Philippines after typhoon Hai

Filipinos are counting their dead as the full extent of the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan begins to emerge.

The Red Cross says more than 1000 people were killed in the coastal city of Tacloban alone. Another 200 lost their lives in the province of Samar. And the reports of casualties are still coming in.

A day after the category 5 “super typhoon” churned through the Philippine islands, rescue teams are struggling to reach far-flung regions, their efforts hampered by roads destroyed, ferry services cancelledand fallen trees

People are still desperately looking for relatives missing since the storm. One local resident in Tacloban sobbed “I am looking for my grandmother, my mother, father and my child, who I accidentally let go of during the typhoon.”

Thousands of people have been left homeless. One the tourist destination island of Cebu, one woman surveyed the wreckage of her house saying “what will I do now my house is destroyed? I did not anticipate the winds would be that strong.”

An average of 20 typhoons strike every year, and Haiyan is the 24th so far this year.

Forecasters said the storm was expected to pick up renewed strength over the South China Sea as it heads towards Vietnam, Laos and China