By the numbers: Philippines in crisis

Typhoon Haiyan may have been the strongest tropical storm to make landfall in recorded history, but scientists can’t say that with certainty because they don’t have direct measurements of wind speed. Based on satellite imagery, the U.S. Navy/Air Force Joint Typhoon Warning Center estimated maximum sustained winds of 195 mph at the storm’s peak, 5 mph higher than any storm recorded at landfall, and 20 mph higher than Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The previous strongest landfall winds on record are from Hurricane Camille, which struck the U.S. Gulf Coast in 1969 and had winds speeds of 190 mph. But size and water surge also matter; Haiyan was about five times as large as Camille. Its peak surge, a 20-foot high wall of water that hit Tacloban, capital of the island province of Leyte, was seven feet higher than Hurricane Sandy’s, but lower than Hurricane Katrina’s 24- to 28-foot surge along the Louisiana coast. 

The typhoon, known locally as Yolanda, drove an estimated 1.9 million people from their homes, according to United Nations on Friday. That's up from earlier estimates of 544,000 to 900,000 displaced. Of the 543,127 homes that have been damaged, according to the latest government estimate, roughly half were destroyed. In Tacloban, one of the hardest-hit cities, 30 to 40 percent of its 235,000 residents have fled, the mayor said.

According to the latest official count released Sunday, 3,974 people have been killed. Among the dead are two Americans, according to the State Department. Haiyan is currently the second deadliest storm in Filipino history, according to the United Nations. Tropical Storm Thelma killed more than 5,000 people when it plowed through the central Philippines in November 1991, making it the deadliest tropical storm on the books. In the U.S., Hurricane Katrina was the deadliest storm in recent history, killing more than 1,700 people.

But there’s politics to Haiyan’s numbers. An early projection of 10,000 deaths that circulated widely in international media has been denied by Filipino President Benigno Aquino III, who called it the result of “emotional trauma.” One provincial official who cited this number was removed from his post, although international aid officials have supported the 10,000 estimate, reports the Los Angeles Times.

On Saturday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council announced that 1,000 additional cadaver bags had been sent to the provinces. Supplies for picking up and burying corpses have been decimated in hard-hit regions. For example, there were just eight functioning trucks reported left in Tacloban after the storm.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council released the estimated figures on those missing from Haiyan on Saturday, but Google is currently tracking nearly 100,000 entries in its People Finder from people who are looking for a loved ones. Google told CNBC Asia that the number of submissions is on track to potentially surpass the 600,000 entries that followed the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

This enormous gender discrepancy applies to all disasters, according to a report released last month by the aid organization Plan International. The researchers found that girls are not only less likley to be rescued than their brothers, they are also less likely to be fed. Girls also face a much higher risk of sexual victimization following a natural disaster. Previous emergencies and disaster in the Philippines have left women and girls at a higher risk of rape, violence, forced marriage and trafficking, according to U.K. development secretary Justine Greening.

Pregnant women impacted by the typhoon are also more likely to have premature and underweight babies. One study found that pregnant women severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina were almost three times as likely to have low birth weight babies and over twice as likely to give birth prematurely, than those in the area who weren’t so affected.

The storm-battered area of the Philippines will welcome 12,000 newborns in the coming month, according to the World Health Organization, based on demographic information from those towns and villages. With food scarce and trauma fresh, many will be born underweight, and equipment, antibiotics, anesthetics, as well as doctors and nurses, are in short supply.

At least six newborns died in the intensive care unit for newborns at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban because vital medical equipment had been destroyed in the storm. The facility’s only incubator was soiled with water and mud.

As of Sunday, the Filipino National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council estimated the cost of the destruction at 10.3 billion pesos, or $236 million.

The Philippines Finance Minister Cesar Purisima also told the BBC that the country’s GDP growth could be slowed by one percentage point as Haiyan’s devastation disrupts production, commerce and supply chains. This would likely be much higher if the country’s major commercial centers hadn’t been spared. The areas ravaged by the typhoon are largely agricultural, so analysts expects food prices to jump and the Filipino dream of rice self-sufficiency to be on temporary hold.

Of the U.N.'s $301 million fundraising goal for Haiyan relief, $79 million, or 26.1 percent, has been raised so far.

To date, the U.S. has pledged $27 million to fund emergency food, water, sanitation and shelter and to support logistics, according to USAID. Of that total, $20 million came from USAID, and $7 million from the Department of Defense. Japan has provided $10 million, Australia $9 million and British Prime Minister David Cameron vowed to give an additional £30 million ($48 million), reported Sky News, bringing British government’s total donation to £50 million ($81 million).

After an initial pledge of $100,000, China, the world’s second largest economy, increased its goodwill. But as The Atlantic pointed out, China’s updated donation is still less than that of Swedish furniture company IKEA ($2.7 million) and Coca-Cola ($2.5 million). China and the Philippines have been in a dispute over territory in the South China Sea.

That's according to Medecins Sans Frontieres. The pace of supplies arriving has quickened, but many relief agencies say that damaged roads, downed power lines and other infrastructure destruction is slowing the pace of aid reaching people in areas far from ports and airports.

The U.N. World Food Programme estimates that 2.5 million are in need of emergency food assistance.