Last Friday morning, Super Typhoon Haiyan wreaked havoc on the islands of the Phillippines, leaving as many as 10,000 people dead.

One of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded, Haiyan (Yolanda in the Philippines) has caused thousands of fatalities, according to local officials.

Haiyan was the second category 5 typhoon to strike the Philippines this year.

"The devastation is, I don't have the words for it," Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said, according to Reuters. "It's really horrific. It's a great human tragedy."

Gale-force winds knocked down buildings and destroyed an airport before moving toward Vietnam.

“My family was mildly affected by the storm since they live in Manila,” said Alexis Antoine, a high school student in Coral Gables, Fl whose family lives in the Philippines. “Seeing the damage is really heart wrenching, and I can only imagine those who have to endure it. I want everyone to know that there is a God. He watches over you, and sees your pain.”

Much of the devastation was concentrated in and around Tacloban City, the capital of Leyte province.

“Access remains a key challenge as some areas are still cut off from relief operations,” the United Nations office in Manila said today in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg News. “Unknown numbers of survivors do not have basic necessities such as food, water and medicines and remain inaccessible for relief operations, as roads, airports and bridges were destroyed or covered in wreckage.”

The UN's hunger-fighting organization has allocated an immediate $2 million for Haiyan relief, with a greater appeal pending as needs become apparent. The UN organization is sending 40 metric tons of fortified biscuits in the immediate aftermath.

Other international relief organizations are allocating their funds to the Philippines.

American Red Cross has sent thousands of hot meals and staff, World Vision is providing water and hygiene kits and evacuation centers, and Salvation Army is offering 100 percent of all its relief donations to immediately impact the Philippines.

Television images from the city showed bodies on the streets and floating in the sea, homes reduced to rubble, structures with their roofs ripped off and roads blocked by felled trees.

The Philippines was the nation most affected by natural disasters in 2012, with more than 2,000 deaths, according to the Brussels-based Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters.

To donate the relief efforts of World Vision, visit www.worldvision.org.