MANILA — A massive relief effort in the central Philippines was being hampered early Tuesday by the wreckage of one of the largest and deadliest storms of the century, a super typhoon that left trees splintered on the streets, bodies festering in open view and desperate towns short of food and water.

The destruction across a chain of Philippine islands leaves authorities with a relief operation both urgent and complicated, and of a scale exceeding any other in the history of this disaster-prone nation.


Distressing first-hand accounts and video footage from Tacloban city in the Philippines, which was dealt the brunt of super typhoon Haiyan.

Rescue workers have reached many of the areas hit four days ago by Typhoon Haiyan, but others remain inaccessible. Pharmacies have been swept away and hospitals gutted. Looters have hauled away medical supplies, according to local media accounts. The half-dozen provinces hit most directly by Haiyan’s 150 mph winds still lack electricity or mobile connections. In some remote areas, relief can come only by boat or helicopter.

A clearer picture of the destruction came more fully into view early Tuesday as a wave of emergency workers reported conditions on the ground and the Philippine military provided aerial photos of towns ground into wood beams and rubble. Photos also showed survivors walking the streets, holding clothes against their noses to block the stench of bodies.

The typhoon cut a path through the middle of this island country — a direct hit on about 10 percent of the population. Up to 10,000 are feared dead in Tacloban city alone, according to unconfirmed accounts, and thousands across the region are missing.

“It is really a massive disaster,” said Sandra Bulling, an emergency communications officer at CARE, a humanitarian agency, who made it to a village 20 miles from Tacloban on Monday. “Aid is slowly getting through, and the local authorities have started distributing. But what the municipalities are telling us is, they’re running out of their stock, and now they’re really relying on international support.”

In Washington, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the aircraft carrier USS George Washington and other Navy ships “to make best speed” for the Philippines, the Pentagon announced Monday. The carrier, with 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircraft on board, was dispatched from Hong Kong, where it was on a port visit. It was being accompanied by two cruisers, a destroyer and a supply ship. Another destroyer got underway for the region on Sunday.

“As needed, these ships and aircraft will be able to provide humanitarian assistance, supplies, and medical care in support of the ongoing efforts” led by the Philippine government and military, the Pentagon said. It said the flotilla should arrive in two or three days.

After ravaging the central Philippines, the super typhoon touched down in central Vietnam early Monday.

On its rampage across the region, Haiyan had much the look of a tsunami, with waves as high as two-story buildings.

President Benigno Aquino III, who traveled by helicopter to Tacloban on Sunday, said the government had deployed several hundred soldiers to “show the strength of the state and deter further looting,” according to his official Web site.