Scale of damage caused by super typhoon emerges
As every hour goes by we are getting a clearer picture of the damage caused by the super typhoon. Rescue teams are 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 is no phone coverage.
Experienced aid workers are saying they haven't seen anything like it since the December 2004 Asian Tsunami, and that's not a comparison you make lightly.
The US military is standing by by ready to give assistance. I was speaking to a colonel in the US Marines today. He had been up with the air force, surveying the worst affected areas.
The government of the Philippines has now accepted the UN offer of international assistance. Now the picture is emerging of a much bigger humanitarian disaster than was perhaps first thought. Certainly, the damage is far worse than many people feared.