The Filipino community in Sydney is raising money to provide support to family and friends affected by the devastating Typhoon Haiyan in the central Philippines, local media reported Monday.

At least 10,000 people are feared dead in Leyte Province after the typhoon, one of the most powerful in recorded history that devastated the region.

Arturo Sayas, spokesman for the Philippine Community Council of New South Wales, said the massive storm had made it difficult to contact people in the Philippines due to the damage to the telephone network.

"This one is a massive one but really we need to put our acts together and have a concerted effort just to accumulate or ask for some donors to help our fellow Filipinos back in the Philippines," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

"The telephone connection is worse, there's not much communication at the moment because of the devastation of the power and all the electricity functioning," he said.