Update | At least 1,200 feared dead as super typhoon devastates Philippine towns

One of the most powerful typhoons in history is believed to have killed 1,200 people in the Philippines, the Red Cross said yesterday, as rescue workers raced to reach towns devastated by tsunami-like waves.

A day after Typhoon Haiyan churned through the Philippine archipelago, rescue teams were struggling to reach far-flung regions but were hampered by washed-out roads, many choked with debris and fallen trees.

The death toll from the fast-moving storm was expected to rise sharply. The circumference of the typhoon eclipsed the whole country. Haiyan is expected to hit Vietnam this morning.

Among the hardest hit areas was coastal Tacloban in central Leyte province where more than 1,000 people were feared to have been killed as water surges rushed through the city, said Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross.

Video: Super typhoon kills thousands in devastated Philippines

"More than 1,000 bodies were estimated to have been seen floating in Tacloban," she said. "In Samar, about 200 deaths."