One of the most powerful storms ever recorded killed at least 10,000 people in the central Philippines province of Leyte, a senior police official said on Sunday, with coastal towns and the regional capital devastated by huge waves. Super typhoon Haiyan destroyed about 70 to 80 percent of the area in its path as it tore through the province on Friday, said chief superintendent Elmer Soria, a regional police director.

The Pentagon said it was providing the Philippines with naval and aviation resources in the wake of a devastating typhoon. The UN said that it expected the provisional 1,200 death toll from super typhoon Haiyan to rise and is sending emergency supplies to the stricken country.