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Bodies scattered in Leyte as Visayas in shock from Yolanda's fury


The Visayas region, especially the Leyte provinces, was in shock a day after Super Typhoon Yolanda rampaged through central Philippines, with bodies being pulled out of wreckage and vast areas without power and mobile communications.

Scores of Filipinos around the world were worried sick about loved ones they cannot contact, and bombarded news organizations and social media with desperate queries and pleas for assistance. The death toll has exceeded 100 and is steadily climbing as the full extent of the destruction began to reveal itself on Saturday.
 
Citing a report from the local airport manager, John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said Saturday that more than 100 dead bodies are lying in the streets in Tacloban City in Leyte. More than 100 people, he said, are also injured.

GMA News reporter Jiggy Manicad had earlier reported that he saw dozens of bodies in Tacloban and Palo.

"Doon lang sa aming puwesto sa may Tacloban City naanod sa may coastal area yung 11 na ka-tao kaagad. Isa po doon ay bata," Manicad said.

He added that he and his team felt like they were "inside a washing machine" as 200 kph winds blew for four hours. Manicad and his team walked for six hours to link up with GMA reporter and Leyte native Love Añover in Palo where she wept on live TV as she talked about the impact on her  province.

"Doon sa mga nadaanan namin, meron ding mga labi ng mga biktima sa tabing kalye," Manicad said.

Manicad and his team passed at least 10 bodies in a school on the way to Palo and another 12 dead in "a church near Tacloban."

900,000 families affected
 
Several government agencies are meanwhile working overtime to deliver aid to more than 900,000 families affected by typhoon Yolanda, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Saturday.
 
The Philippine Official Gazette said in a tweet that, as of 12 noon, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has identified a total of 944,586 families affected by the typhoon. 
 
With power still intermittent and dead cell signals prevailing in the Tacloban metro, DSWD said at the NDRRMC briefing held Saturday morning that it has deployed a seven-man team to Samar and Leyte to assess the situation in the aftermath of the typhoon and aid in relief operations. 
 
Secretary to the Cabinet Rene Almendras has declined to say the goverment's updated official tally of casualties, saying in a television report that several government officials are still verifying the number of dead in several provinces. Because of frail communication lines and the state of power, however, many still can't contact their loved ones to confirm their safety or status.
 
 
He confirmed, however, that the death toll has gone past the three persons reported by the NDRRMC Friday.
 
"What I can tell is that [the death toll] is not just three. But I cannot tell you now exactly how much more [casualties there are] because right now, we're still working to get better figures," he said.
 
NTC said at the press conference it is working with telecommunication providers Globe and Smart to restore cellular services in the affected provinces in the Visayas region. 
 
CAAP, meanwhile, said on Twitter that as of 12 noon, the airports in Tacloban, Kalibo, Roxas and Busuanga in Palawan will remain closed until further notice. – Xianne Arcangel / KDM, GMA News 
 
 
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