WITH the first deaths confirmed as super typhoon Haiyan smashes through the Philippines, locals and tourists alike are desperately trying to stay out of danger.

Two people were killed in Cotabato province - an adult and a one-year-old - and a woman was fatally hit by a falling tree in Cebu, officials said.

With wind and rain lashing towns and resorts across the nation, Australian visitors are among the millions seeking shelter.

Sydney man Mark Denning told News Corp he and his wife were bunkered down in their hotel room on the tourist island of Boracay as the storm approached.

Mr Denning, who attended his younger brother's wedding on the island yesterday, said beaches were deserted and tourists had retreated to the safety of their hotels. He said the storm had not made landfall on the island, but it was already being battered by strong winds and heavy rain. Read his story in the blog below.

Haiyan, which is also being referred to as Yolanda by Philippines meteorologists, has been dubbed the strongest storm in history - certainly for three decades - by some experts.

It first bowled into fishing communities on the central island of Samar, about 600km southeast of Manila, earlier today with maximum sustained winds of 315km/h an hour. It is cutting across the central and southern Philippines and is expected to exit into the South China Sea then move on towards Vietnam late on Saturday.

Authorities warned more than 12 million people were at risk from the typhoon. Its wind strength makes it equivalent to an exceptionally strong Category 5 hurricane.

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Originally published as Hiding in hotels as killer storm strikes