MANILA, PHILIPPINES

The death toll from one of the strongest typhoons on record has risen above 5,000 and is likely to climb further, although recovery efforts are beginning to take hold, Philippine officials said today.

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said 4,919 people were killed on Leyte, Samar and nearby islands in the Eastern Visayas region. Civil defense chief Eduardo del Rosario said 290 others died in other parts of the central and southern Philippines.

The regions were battered two weeks ago by fierce winds and tsunami-like storm surges from Typhoon Haiyan, locally called Yolanda.

Del Rosario said there were 1,611 people still missing.

Journalists in Tacloban say the stench of death from piles of debris, upturned vehicles and remnants of what once were homes indicates that bodies remain trapped underneath.

Roxas said the situation was stabilizing, with major roads on Samar and Leyte cleared of debris and some banks, grocery stores and gas stations now open.

The airport in Tacloban, the regional hub, and its seaport are operating.

“There is no more looting,” he said. “We are now heading to recovery and reconstruction.”

Even though authorities evacuated about 800,000 people ahead of the typhoon, the death toll was high because many evacuation centers — schools, churches and government buildings — could not withstand the winds and water. Officials said people who sought shelter in the buildings drowned or were swept away.

The United States and about two dozen other governments quickly sent aid. Bottlenecks, including roads blocked by debris, damaged vehicles and a lack of personnel, held up the distribution of relief supplies in the first week.

U.S. Marines helped clear the Tacloban airport runway, allowing the delivery by air of aid to the city which became the relief center for the region.

Roxas said more than 1.1 million food packs have been delivered to the region.

“Our mission is to deliver relief and food supplies to all the towns … (with) 100,000 food packs every day,” he said.

Typically, a food pack consists of rice, noodles, canned goods and instant coffee sufficient for a family for two days.