TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) — A U.S. Marine general says he saw bodies everywhere during a helicopter flight over the region struck by powerful Typhoon Haiyan in the central Philippines four days ago.

Speaking after a two-hour flight Monday with Filipino forces, U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy said every building and house he saw was destroyed or severely damaged.

"We saw bodies everywhere," he said. Some were floating in the water, others in a schoolyard.

He said trees were uprooted for miles around, roads were impassable and power lines were down.

"I don't know how else you can describe total devastation," Kennedy said at the airport in the badly hit Philippine city of Tacloban.

Two U.S. Marine C-130 cargo planes were parked nearby, their engines running, unloading food and water from the capital, Manila.

The Philippine military says it has confirmed 942 people have died in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan.

Military spokesman Lt. Jim Alagao said Monday that 275 others were confirmed missing from the storm, one of the strongest on record.

The death toll is expected to rise considerably. Two provincial officials predicted Sunday that it could reach 10,000 or more.

Disrupted transportation and communications links have made it difficult to count the dead and distribute relief goods. Destruction from the typhoon, which slammed into the central Philippines on Friday, was extensive, with debris blocking roads and trapping decomposing bodies.

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