A trapped resident braves the dust created by a U.S. Navy helicopter taking off on Saturday November 16, on Manicani Island, in central Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on record, hit the country's eastern seaboard on November 8, leaving a wide swath of destruction.
The corpse of a victim of the typhoon floats on a river in Tanauan, on the eastern island of Leyte on November 16.
A pregnant survivor waits to give birth in a hospital on November 16 in Tanauan.
A dead dog lies in front of a house destroyed by the typhoon in Tanauan on November 16.
A man carries a bicycle as he walks through the ruin of a building ravaged by the typhoon in Tacloban on November 16.
Survivors of the typhoon stand in a street partially blocked by debris in Tanauan on November 16.
An elderly survivor walks past toppled cars outside a church in Tacloban on November 16.
A man cleans meat after slaughtering his only cow that survived the typhoon in Tanauan.
Survivors gather at Tacloban to await transport to neighboring Cebu Island province on November 16.
Men carry a coffin toward a local cemetery on November 16 in Leyte, Philippines. Bodies are still being collecting from streets.
A survivor cooks dinner in front of his damaged home in the village of Marabut, Samar Island, on Friday, November 15.
Toppled coconut trees dot the mountain in an area devastated by the typhoon in Leyte province on November 15.
A typhoon survivor keeps her husband alive by manually pumping air into his lungs following an infection after his leg was amputated at the Divine Word Hospital on Friday, November 15, in Tacloban, Leyte province, Philippines. The hospital has been operating without power since Typhoon Haiyan laid waste to much of the central Philippines a week ago.
A survivor reacts to the damage at a residential area in Tacloban on November 15.
Typhoon victims are treated in the lobby of the Divine Word Hospital on November 15.
Philippines Army soldiers carry the body of a civilian collected from the rubble in the devastated town of Tanuan, south of Tacloban, on November 15.
Residents wait to board a Singaporean cargo plane at the Tacloban airport on November 15. Many survivors have converged on the city's airport to wait for flights.
Search and retrieval teams carry a body bag in Tacloban on November 15.
Survivors of Typhoon Haiyan carry food that a U.S. military helicopter dropped off in Guiuan, Philippines, on Thursday, November 14. The U.S. Agency for International Development donated the food to help with international relief efforts.
Dozens of bodies are placed near Tacloban City Hall on November 14 as workers prepare a mass grave on the outskirts of the hard-hit city.
A girl plays inside her house amid the devastation in Tacloban on November 14.
A Filipino soldier hands out bread to survivors in Maraboth on November 14.
A boy takes cover from rain while waiting for an evacuation flight from Tacloban's airport November 14.
Workers arrange bodies at a mass burial site at a Tacloban cemetery November 14.
The weary wait for evacuation from Tacloban on November 14.
A truck lies in the water in Hernani on November 14.
Children play with fallen power lines near a damaged school in Guiuan on November 14.
Teresa Mazeda hangs laundry in the ruins of her home in Tacloban on Wednesday, November 13.
Nina Duran searches for belongings at her family's destroyed house in Tacloban on November 13.
Survivors walk through the ruins of their neighborhood outside Tacloban on November 13.
A man sits in front of his destroyed business on November 13 in Tacloban.
On November 13, a family tries to use a ceiling fan to generate electricity, desperate to charge mobile phones to search for family and friends in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan in Cebu province.
An injured man rests beneath a picture of Jesus Christ in Tacloban on November 13.
A man takes a shower amid rubble in Tacloban on November 13.
A rescue team wades into floodwater to retrieve a body in Tacloban on November 13.
Residents take shelter in a Tacloban church on November 13 in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan.
Residents make their way through a destroyed neighborhood in Tacloban on November 13.
A boy cycles past a coffin left on a street in Tacloban on November 13.
A man looks at his home destroyed by Typhoon Hayian in Tacloban on November 13.
Body bags are lined up in the typhoon's aftermath in Tacloban, one of the hardest-hit cities, on November 13.
Survivors prepare to board a military plane November 13 at the airport in Tacloban.
Men walk through the smoke as they burn debris from a church ravaged by Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, Philippines, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on record, hit the country's eastern seaboard Nov. 8, leaving a wide swath of destruction. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
An aerial view shows signs pleading for help and food scrawled on a road in the coastal town of Tanauan on November 13.
Soldiers help a woman after she collapsed while waiting in line to board a military plane at Tacloban's airport November 13.
Survivors wait to be evacuated from Tacloban on November 13.
An injured survivor gets carried on a stretcher before being airlifted from Tacloban's airport November 13.
A survivor begins to rebuild his house in Tacloban on November 13.
Evacuees wait to board a military aircraft in Leyte on Tuesday, November 12.
People walk through damage in Tacloban on November 12.
A young man waits at the airport November 12 in hopes of being evacuated from Tacloban.
A woman comforts a crying relative as a plane leaves the Tacloban airport November 12.
A man sits crying on a packed aircraft in Tacloban on November 12.
Debris lays scattered around a damaged home near the Tacloban airport on November 12.
A girl sits inside a bus as she waits for a ferry in Matnog, Philippines, on November 12.
Police line up bodies for processing in Tacloban on November 12.
People in Tacloban pass debris on November 11.
Survivors in Tacloban board a military plane bound for the Philippine capital of Manila on November 11.
Residents carry bags of rice from a Tacloban warehouse that they stormed November 11 because of a food shortage.
A woman in Tacloban walks amid the debris of destroyed houses on November 11.
People make their way across a flooded street in Shangsi, China, on November 11. Haiyan moved toward Vietnam and south China after devastating the Philippines.
Buildings lie in ruins on Eastern Samar's Victory Island.
Emily Ortega rests on November 11 after giving birth to Bea Joy at an improvised clinic at the Tacloban airport.
U.S. Marine Corps Osprey aircraft arrive at Manila's Villamor Airbase to deliver humanitarian aid on November 11.
People ride past destruction in Tacloban on Sunday, November 10.
A body lies amid the Tacloban devastation on November 10.
People cover their noses to block the smell of bodies in Tacloban on November 10.
Bodies of victims lie along a Tacloban road on November 10.
A large boat sits aground, surrounded by debris in Tacloban on November 10.
People walk past the Tacloban devastation on November 10.
People stand under a shelter in Tacloban.
A girl peeks out from a makeshift shelter in Tacloban.
Typhoon survivors wait to receive relief goods at the Tacloban airport on November 10.
A woman mourns in front of her husband's dead body November 10 in Tacloban.
Fallen trees litter the ground at the Tacloban airport on Saturday, November 9.
A resident passes victims' bodies on a Tacloban street November 9.
People in Tacloban carry a victim of the typhoon November 9.
A vehicle lies amid Tacloban debris on November 9.
People walk past a victim left on the side of a road in Tacloban.
A resident passes an overturned car in Tacloban on November 9.
Rescue workers carry a woman about to give birth November 9 at a makeshift medical center at the Tacloban airport.
An airport lies in ruins in Tacloban.
Astronaut Karen L. Nyberg took a picture of the typhoon from the International Space Station on November 9.
Women walk past fallen trees and destroyed houses in Tacloban on November 9. Residents scoured supermarkets for water and food as they slowly emerged on streets littered with debris.
A soldier pulls a cable inside the devastated airport tower in Tacloban.
Tacloban houses are destroyed by the strong winds caused by the typhoon.
Dark clouds brought by Haiyan loom over Manila skyscrapers on November 8.
A woman carries a baby across a river November 8 at a coastal village in Las Pinas, Philippines.
A resident walks along a fishing village in Bacoor, Philippines, on November 8.
A house in Legazpi, Philippines, is engulfed by storm surge November 8.
A child wraps himself in a blanket inside a makeshift house along a Bacoor fishing village.
A woman and her children head for an evacuation center November 8 amid strong winds in Cebu City, Philippines.
Huge waves from Haiyan hit the shoreline in Legazpi on November 8.
A fisherman lifts a post to reinforce his home at a coastal village in Las Pinas on November 8.
A resident unloads nets off a fishing boat in Bacoor on November 8.
Residents reinforce their homes in Las Pinas on November 8.
The storm approaches the Philippines in this satellite image taken Thursday, November 7, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Workers bring down a billboard in Makati, Philippines, on November 7 before Haiyan makes landfall.
Philippine Coast Guard personnel stand in formation beside newly acquired rubber boats after a blessing ceremony in Manila on Wednesday, November 6. The boats were to be deployed to the central Philippines in preparation for Haiyan.
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- Official death toll climbs to 3,637 dead, disaster officials say
- The number of displaced grows to about 3 million
- About 9,000 U.S. troops are assisting
Tacloban, Philippines (CNN) -- More than a week after Super Typhoon Haiyan laid waste to much of the central Philippines, the toll is overwhelming: entire communities flattened, thousands dead and nearly 2 million people displaced.
The arrival in recent days of hundreds of aid workers and military troops has seen a floodgate of humanitarian aid -- food, water and medical supplies -- open, albeit sporadically, in the hard hit provinces.
Crews continued Saturday to collect bodies from streets, with the death toll increased to 3,637, according to the official death count.
The number of injured stood at 12,487, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported. At least 1,179 were missing.
A senior U.S. military official said approximately 9,000 U.S. troops are supporting the operation in the Philippines. U.S. military assets have delivered approximately 623,000 pounds of relief supplies.
The death toll could still climb higher, with an additional 1,000 cadaver bags sent to provinces, the disaster council announced as search-and-rescue operations continued in Tacloban City.
The national disaster council's executive director, Eduardo Del Rosario, said the bags would be placed on standby, given that most of the bodies had already been buried in mass graves or claimed by relatives.
Cadaver bags are cleaned before being reused, he said.
The nation's disaster agency said between 9 million and 13 million people were affected in 44 provinces, 536 municipalities and 55 cities. About 3 million were displaced, with about 400,000 of them finding shelter inside evacuation centers.
The Philippines News Association reported Friday that five-person teams that include a forensic expert and photographer would begin Saturday using a "quick system" for the bodies.
"Under the system, the public will not be allowed to view the identification process but relatives will be asked to participate in the final identification of corpses at an appointed time," it reported, citing the Department of Health.
Each team will be required to handle 40 corpses per day, it said.
Health Secretary Enrique Ona said that photos will be taken, identifying marks will be documented and belongings and tissue samples for possible use in DNA testing will be collected, when practical.
CNN's Barbara Starr and Nana Karikari-apau contributed to this report.
