By Li Hongmei

Rescue workers are rushing to the Philippines after the year's most powerful typhoon on Nov. 8 flattened buildings and unleashed storm surges that may have killed as many as 10,000 people, and as a new storm approaches.

China is also ready to join the global relief efforts. The Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said yesterday the Chinese government is willing to offer emergency aid and disaster relief to the Philippines.

The Philippine government warned the devastation may adversely impact the economy and sent in police and soldiers to prevent looting as survivors searched for food. The peso and stocks weakened.

The United Nations said it is stepping up relief operations, with much of the destruction concentrated in and around Tacloban city, the capital of Leyte province. The difficulty in reaching the hardest-hit areas means the number of casualties has yet to be confirmed, said the Red Cross in Geneva, which cited Philippine authorities as saying the death toll may reach 10,000.

The UN and other humanitarian agencies have "quickly ramped up critical relief operations to help families in desperate need," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement yesterday. "While many communities are very difficult to reach, with roads, airports and bridges destroyed or blocked with debris, agencies have begun airlifting food, health, shelter, medical and other life-saving supplies."

President Benigno Aquino traveled to Tacloban yesterday to view the aftermath of the storm. 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.