Biggest storm in history: Millions flee and more than 100 are dead as 147mph winds smash into the Philippines forcing the evacuation of 800,000 people



Typhoon Haiyan was a maximum category-five storm with ground winds of up to 147mph

More than 100 people are believed to be dead 800,000 evacuated, and four million affected in total



Terrifying wind speeds were greater than those of Hurricane Camille which hit Mississippi in 1969



Gales whipped up 19ft waves which battered the islands of Leyte and Samar yesterday



Storm has now passed majority of the islands and is set to move inland towards Laos before dying




It was the most powerful storm to ever land.



A monster typhoon, with winds reaching 147mph, killed more than 100 people, tossed houses into the sea and sent millions fleeing for shelter in the Philippines yesterday.



The poverty-stricken country has already endured almost a year of earthquakes and floods with no fewer than 24 disastrous weather events.



The category-5 super typhoon Haiyan – Chinese for ‘sea bird’ – smashed into the eastern islands of the Philippines with winds nearly 150mph stronger than the St Jude storm which struck the UK in late October.



Roofs were ripped from houses, ferocious 20ft waves washed away coastal villages, power lines came down and trees were uprooted.



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Assessment: A resident of Manila looks at the damage to his home. Poorer families with less stable houses were the worst affected, according to reports

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 Disaster zone: This map shows the trajectory of the devastating storm as it heads towards Vietnam Desperate efforts: A three-wheeled vehicle makes its way through the submerged streets of Taguig city in the aftermath of the category-five storm 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 Space: A digital composite of Typhoon Haiyan approaching the Philippines, made using images captured geostationary satellites of the Japan Meteorological Agency Roger Mercado, governor of Southern Leyte, an island off the coast off the popular tourist region of Cebu, said the dense clouds and heavy rains turned day into night.

‘When you’re faced with such a scenario, you can only pray and pray and pray,’ he said, as weather forecasters warned of ‘catastrophic’ damage.

The governor added: ‘My worst fear is that there will be many massive loss of lives and property.’

Braving the storm: A resident of Legazpi City, Albay province, inspects the damage caused by the typhoon which has killed four people so far Downpour: As well as strong winds, the typhoon brought with it torrential rain which caused landslides in rural parts of the country 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 Initial reports said four people had been killed, including a villager who was electrocuted and a man who was struck by lightning. RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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Next The £48,000 wind turbine that will take four centuries to... A 21st Century Santa's grotto: The Amazon warehouse getting... Are mutant super-rats taking over the Commons? Parliament... Share this article Share Authorities warned that 12 million people were at risk. More than 125,000 people were evacuated from towns and villages that lay directly in the typhoon’s path, but hundreds of thousands more were told to prepare for disaster that was likely to hit them.

The storm brought further misery to thousands of residents of Bohol who had been camped in tents and other makeshift shelters after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the island last month.



Carnage: A resident runs past an uprooted tree amidst strong winds as the super-typhoon battered Cebu City, in the central Philippines this morning

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

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 Patrick Fuller, spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, feared the death toll could rise dramatically once reports arrived from areas where communications had been cut.

‘The humanitarian impact of Haiyan threatens to be colossal,’ he said.

Philippines president Benigno Aquino had one message for people living in vulnerable areas such as villages beside river banks, coastal regions and mountain slopes: ‘Get out while you can!’



The US Navy said the typhoon’s maximum sustained winds were 195mph, with gusts up to 235mph. Meteorologists said last night that made it the strongest storm to ever hit land. They added that the typhoon was heading into the South China Sea and could hit Vietnam tonight. Speaking in the aftermath of the storm Paul Knightley, forecast manager at MeteoGroup, described Haiyan as 'one of the strongest typhoons ever seen before on the planet in the modern age'. 'It is an incredibly powerful storm, which has now moved through the Philippines. No doubt we will see all sorts of damage has been caused.'

Hanging in there: A fisherman in Manila is forced to cling on to his equipment, left, while there was little hope for other less stable buildings in the storm's path, right

'As far as tropical storms go, this is about the top of the ladder. To get winds approaching 200mph as an average wind speed within the storm - you're talking the top few percent of all storms that have ever occurred.

'It may be one of the - if not the - strongest land-falling storm we've seen for many years, possibly in recorded history. '

This morning, Philippine Red Cross chief Gwendolyn Pang said they struggled to deliver aid in the adverse conditions.

She 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'. 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. 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 Visibility was so poor that only the silhouette of a local reporter could be seen through the driving rain. '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. Officials in Cebu province shut down electric services to the northern part of the province to avoid electrocutions in case power pylons are toppled, said assistant regional civil defence chief Flor Gaviola. Eye of the storm: This NASA MODIS Aqua satellite image shows what is the strongest storm ever closing in on the Philippines 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 yesterday.

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

Downpour: Filipinos women carry their umbrellas during a downpour in Manila after Typhoon Haiyan, the most powerful cyclone in three decades, hit this morning

Taking cover: A Filipino woman uses a plastic sheet for cover during a downpour brought on by Typhoon Haiyan in Manila

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. Preparing for disaster on Thrusday Filipino President Benigno Aquino had warned his compatriots to make all possible preparations for Haiyan . 'To our local officials, your constituents are facing a serious peril. Let us do all we can while (the storm) has not yet hit land', he said in a nationally televised address. Evacuations: Residents living near the slopes of Mayon volcano are evacuated to public schools by police in anticipation of the powerful typhoon Haiyan Looking for cover: Filipino residents climb into a makeshift shelter at a coastal village in Las Pinas city, south of Manila

More than 125,000 people in the most vulnerable areas had been moved to evacuation centres before Haiyan hit, according to the national disaster management council, and millions of others huddled in their homes.

Authorities said schools in the storm's path were closed, ferry services suspended and flights cancelled.

In the capital Manila, which was on the northern edge of the typhoon's path, many schools were closed amid forecasts of heavy rain.

One particularly vulnerable area in Haiyan's path was the central island of Bohol, the epicentre of a 7.1-magnitude earthquake last month that killed 222 people.

At least 5,000 survivors were still living in tents on the island, and they were moved to schools that had been turned into evacuation centres.

Telephone lines appeared to be down where the typhoon first struck 405 miles south east of Manila on the southern tip of Samar island before barrelling on to Leyte Island.

National address: Philippine President Benigno Aquino III gives a nationally televised address at the Malacanang palace in Manila about Typhoon Haiyan