Monster storm roars into Philippines

In pictures: Typhoon Haiyan BBC - Dailymail
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Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Philippines early on Friday, with sustained winds of up to 320 km/h (199mph). 8 November 2013

The most powerful typhoon in history: Nearly 720,000 forced to evacuate as 200mph winds spark landslides and destruction across the Philippines

• Typhoon Haiyan is a maximum category-five storm with ground winds of up to 195mph
• Terrifying wind speeds are greater than those of Hurricane Camille which hit Mississippi in 1969
• Gales whip up 19ft waves which continue to batter the islands of Leyte and Samar today
• Four people are now believed dead according to reports but number could rise in coming days
• Haiyan to pass just north of the Philippine's second largest city Cebu, home to 2.5 million people
• Around one million people are in shelter areas in more than 20 provinces as army enforce evacuation

By Suzannah Hills

PUBLISHED: 01:55 GMT, 8 November 2013 | UPDATED: 16:00 GMT, 8 November 2013 

 

The most intense typhoon on record continued to batter the Philippines today, killing four people and forcing almost 720,000 people to flee their homes.

Super typhoon Haiyan smashed into coastal communities on the central island of Samar, 370 miles southeast of Manila, on Friday with maximum sustained winds of 195mph and gusts of up to 235mph.

According to The U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center, which measures average wind speed accurate to every minute, that makes Haiyan more powerful than the 1969 Hurricane Camille, which battered Mississippi in the United States with winds of 190mph.

Higher ground: Residents of Legaspi, Albay province, south of Manila resident, were forced to flee the coast as Haiyan continued to pound the sea wall today

Carnage: A resident runs past an uprooted tree amidst strong winds as the super-typhoon continued to batter Cebu City, in central Philippines

Enforcement: Soldiers have been patrolling the affected areas to make sure members of the public obey evacuation orders

Devastation: Debris which was washed in by the storm litters the road by the coastal village in Legazpi city. Residents now face a long clean up operation

The Filipino government said the storm has claimed four victims so far, but the true cost to human life could rise yet with breakdowns in communication making it difficult for officials to asses the damage.

Government sources have confirmed at least two people were electrocuted in storm-related accidents, one person was killed by a fallen tree and another was struck by lightning,

Philippine Red Cross chief Gwendolyn Pang said: 'We've had reports of uprooted trees, very strong winds and houses made of light materials being damaged

'We have put rescue teams and equipment at different places, but at the moment we can't really do much because of the heavy rain and strong winds. There is no power'.

University student Jessa Aljibe, 19, spoke to journalists by telephone from the Samar city of Borongan shortly after Haiyan made landfall, she said: 'The winds were so strong that they flattened all the banana plants around the house',

All telephone contact to the island was later lost as the typhoon moved inland.

No chance: A house is engulfed by the storm surge brought about by powerful typhoon Haiyan, many homes like it could not stand up to the force of the gales

Carrying on: Despite the devastation Filipinos have emerged from their shelters today to begin the recovery effort. Some used motorcycles to ford the flood waters 

Television images from Tacloban city on Leyte Island showed a street under knee-deep floodwater carrying debris that had been blown down by the fierce winds. Tin roofing sheets ripped from buildings were flying above the street.

Visibility was so poor that only the silhouette of a local reporter could be seen through the driving rain.

Southern Leyte governor Roger Mercado announced 31,000 people were evacuated in his landslide-prone mountainous province. He said: 'When you're faced with such a scenario, you can only pray, and pray and pray.'

Mercado told journlalists by telephone, that his town mayors have not called in to report any major damage. he added: 'I hope that means they were spared and not the other way around. My worst fear is there will be many massive loss of lives and property.'

Describing the dense clouds and heavy rains, he said the storm made the day seem almost as dark as night.

He added: 'Please do not underestimate this typhoon. It is very powerful. We can feel each gust, We lost power and all roads are impassable because of fallen trees. We just have to pray.'

Terrifying: Residents run for their lives as the terrible gusts of the typhoon buffet the popular tourist city of Cebu. Trees and roofs were torn off by the storm

Raw power: A Filipino man walks past a tree which was uprooted by the strong winds of super Typhoon Haiyan. One man has been killed by a falling tree trunk so far

'Our school is now packed with evacuees,' an elementary school teacher in Southern Leyte who only gave her name as Feliza told a radio station. Leyte and Southern Leyte are about 390 miles southeast of the capital Manila.

An average of 20 major storms or typhoons, many of them deadly, hit the Philippines each year.

The developing country is particularly vulnerable because it is often the first major landmass for the storms after they build over the Pacific Ocean.

Eye of the storm: This NASA MODIS Aqua satellite image shows what is the strongest storm ever closing in on the Philippines 

Officials in Cebu province have shut down electric service to the northern part of the province to avoid electrocutions in case power pylons are toppled, said assistant regional civil defence chief Flor Gaviola.

President Benigno Aquino assured the public of war-like preparations, with three C-130 air force cargo planes and 32 military helicopters and planes on standby, along with 20 navy ships.

Authorities halted ferry services and fishing operations, while nearly 200 local flights had been suspended. Commuter bus services were also stopped as the storm dumped torrential rain and ripped iron roofs off buildings and houses.

Schools, offices and shops in the central Philippines were closed, with hospitals, soldiers and emergency workers on standby for rescue operations.

'We can hear the winds howling but the rains are not too strong. We have encountered several distress calls regarding fallen trees and power lines cut. We don't have power now,' Samar Vice Governor Stephen James Tan said in a radio interview.

Blocked: Residents clear the road in the island province of Cebu after a tree was toppled by strong winds during typhoon Haiyan 

The state weather bureau said Haiyan is expected to exit the Philippines on Saturday and move towards the South China Sea, where it could become even stronger and threaten Vietnam or China.

More than 41,000 people have been evacuated in his province, one of the country's poorest, said Tan.

The Philippines suffered the world's strongest storm of 2012, when Typhoon Bopha left about 2,000 people dead or missing on the southern island of Mindanao.

But now Haiyan's wind strength has made it the most intense to have ever made landfall, according to Jeff Masters, the director of meteorology at US-based Weather Underground.

Aid effort: Volunteers pack relief goods inside a Department of Social Welfare and Development warehouse before shipping out to devastated provinces

Relief: Volunteers in Manila have been working to wrap up essential supplies for the thousands who have been forced to flee their homes and retreat to safer ground

Shelter: Filipino residents sleep on the floor of a gymnasium turned into an evacuation center in Sorsogon City in the Bicol region 

The Philippine government and some scientists have said climate change may be increasing the ferocity and frequency of storms.

But Masters said warm Pacific waters were an important reason for the strength of Haiyan, adding it was premature to blame climate change based on the scanty historical data available.

The US expert said he expected the damage in Guiuan, a fishing town of about 40,000 people that was the first to be hit on Friday, to be 'catastrophic'.

Communication lines with Guiuan remained cut off in the afternoon, and the civil defence office said it was unable to give an assessment of the damage there.

Forecast: Map showing the projected path of Typhoon Haiyan which is expected to strike Vietnam and Cambodia

Typhoon hits: Typhoon Haiyan can be seen in this satellite image over the Philippines as experts warn it could be the strongest typhoon to ever make landfall

In Tacloban, a nearby city of more than 200,000 people, corrugated iron sheets were ripped off roofs and floated with the wind before crashing into buildings, according to video footage taken by a resident.

Flash floods also turned Tacloban's streets into rivers, while a pictures from an ABS-CBN television reporter showed six bamboo houses washed away along a beach more than 200 kilometres to the south.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2491902/Philippines-super-typhoon-Haiyan-powerful-storm-history.html#ixzz2k557ydqZ