The UN has launched an appeal for $301m (£190m) to help relief efforts in typhoon-hit areas of the Philippines. At least 10,000 people are feared to have been killed by Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the central Philippines on Friday. The UN says more than 11 million people are believed to have been affected by the storm and some 673,000 displaced. Several countries have deployed ships to help the relief effort, but bad weather is hampering aid distribution.
Valerie Amos, the UN's Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, has arrived in Manila to head the aid operation. She told the BBC that people in the affected regions were "absolutely desperate".
"They need food, they need water, they need shelter. People need to be protected," she said.
Launching the appeal, she said the UN would work alongside the Philippines government, and that efforts would focus on "food, health, sanitation, shelter, debris removal and also protection of the most vulnerable". "I very much hope our donors will be generous," she told reporters.
'Like 2004 tsunami'
The UN had already released $25m to address the immediate needs of survivors, with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon describing the situation as "heartbreaking".
Two typhoon victims walk a road surrounded by a devastated land outside the airport in Tacloban, on the eastern island of Leyte on 12 November 2013 Philippine President Benigno Aquino has declared a state of national calamity.
In a statement, he said the two worst affected provinces, Leyte and Samar, had suffered massive destruction and loss of life. He authorised the release of emergency relief funds and deployed troops to affected areas.
Authorities had evacuated hundreds of thousands of people before the typhoon arrived, but many evacuation centres - schools, churches and government buildings - proved unable to withstand the winds and storm surges.
Haiyan brought sustained winds of 235km/h (147mph), with gusts of 275 km/h (170 mph) and waves as high as 15m (45ft). In some places, as much as 400mm (15.75 inches) of rain fell.
The typhoon then headed west, sweeping through six central Philippine islands and into Vietnam, where state media said at least 13 people had died. Several people were also reported killed in southern China, after Haiyan passed across on Monday morning.
In the UK, the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) group of 14 charities is to launch its own appeal later on Tuesday. DEC chairman Salah Saeed compared the destruction in the city of Tacloban to that seen after the devastating tsunami of 2004.
"There is currently no food, water or electricity. We can only imagine how much worse the situation will be for families living in towns and remote villages," he said.
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