Filipinos in Singapore are keeping vigil in the wake of events unfolding in their homeland after it was hit by Super Typhoon Haiyan - the most powerful storm in the world this year - on Friday morning.

At least 10 Filipinos The Straits Times spoke to at Lucky Plaza yesterday said they were either trying frantically to contact relatives or remit money to them, with some reduced to tears.

A 34-year-old domestic helper who wept as she spoke, explained how her nine-year-old daughter and elderly mother had to be evacuated to a nearby school in the Visayas region on Thursday night.

Crisis Map for Super Typhoon Haiyan

When she finally contacted her mother on her mobile phone on Friday morning, she learnt that her house, which was made of bamboo, was flooded.

Only giving her name as Amy, she said: "I could not concentrate on my work and my employer has helped me."

She said she was grateful that her Singaporean employer had given her $150 to remit to her family back home.