Red Cross: At Least 1,200 Dead in Philippines as Typhoon Haiyan Rages

(NECN/NBC News: Angus Walker) - People of the Philippines are coping with the incredible damage left in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, which made landfall Friday.

It brought wind gusts up to 170 miles-per-hour, and left a path of destruction as made its way across the archipelago.

Authorities have confirmed nearly 140 deaths so far, but the death toll is expected to rise.

As every hour goes by we're getting a clearer picture of the damage caused by the super typhoon, and that's because rescue teams are now and only now able to get in to some of the worst affected areas, which have remained cut off.

Roads are blocked, power is down and there's no phone coverage.

Philippines Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said, "It's really horrific, it's a great human tragedy. There’s no power, there's no light. By the time the sun sets, it's dark."

Experienced aid workers are saying they haven't seen anything like it since the 2004 Asian tsunami, and that's not a comparison you make lightly.

A lot of people have managed to get away. Walker spoke to survivors that were rescued by the Philippine Air Force earlier Saturday. They spoke of many people dead and also of most houses being swept away by a massive storm surge.

The death toll has now gone up to over a thousand, according to the Red Cross.

The government of the Philippines has now accepted the U.N. offer of international assistance, so now the picture is emerging of a much bigger humanitarian disaster than perhaps was first thought and certainly the damage was far worse than many people feared.

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