Typhoon Haiyan Batters the Philippines: Scenes from the Philippines, where a major storm ripped across islands, killing at least four people.
MANILA — A powerful typhoon ripped through the Philippines on Friday, killing at least four people, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands and putting millions at risk, officials said.
Typhoon Haiyan, called Yolanda in the Philippines, slammed into the island of Samar, on the eastern edge of the Philippines, early Friday morning and sped across the islands in the center of the country.
The storm moved across the country at about 25 miles per hour, roughly twice as fast as a similar storm last year, Typhoon Bopha, which killed more than 1,000 people. A higher speed decreases the impact of rain and landslides, a major cause of deaths.
“Fortunately, this moved like a Porsche,” said Michael Padua, a senior typhoon specialist at a private forecasting group, Weather Philippines.
Before the storm hit on Friday, more than 700,000 people were evacuated from their homes, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Many were housed in evacuation centers, which could limit the death toll, according to one official.
“People were prepared for this one,” said Rene Paciente, a forecaster with the Philippine government’s national weather agency. “They were given notice and they were evacuated.”
In a nationally televised address, President Benigno S. Aquino III had asked Filipinos to prepare for the worst. “Let us evacuate our homes if we are in danger zones,” he said. “For those in coastal areas, don’t venture out to sea. Let’s not risk our lives and those of rescue teams.”
Local radio and television stations reported downed power lines, impassible roads and flooding in some areas caused by surging ocean water. The city of Tacloban, on the island of Leyte, was inundated.
Late Friday afternoon, national disaster officials said they were unable to contact many towns in affected areas because of downed mobile towers and phone lines. Reports of deaths and damage could increase when these areas are reached, officials said.
Before the typhoon made landfall, some international forecasters were estimating wind speeds at 195 miles per hour, which would make the storm one of the most powerful in history. But local forecasters disputed those estimates. “Some of the reports of wind speeds were exaggerated,” said Mr. Paciente.
According to Mr. Paciente, the Philippine weather agency measured wind speeds on the eastern edge of the country at about 150 miles per hour, with some tracking stations recording speeds as low as 100 miles per hour.
The United States Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center used satellite analysis to estimate sustained wind speeds at about 195 miles per hour, with gusts up to 235 miles per hour.
“As far as satellite imagery was concerned it indicated that this was one of the strongest storms on record,” said Roger Edson, the science and operations officer at the United States. National Weather Service in Guam.
He said his analysis of the data put the wind speeds at about 195 miles per hour. “That’s what you could call ‘off the charts,’ ” he said. “The storm was extremely strong but estimating the exact intensity and wind speeds is not possible.”
The Japan Meteorological Agency tracked wind speeds at about 145 miles per hour.
Mr. Edson said it was not yet clear whether the characterizations of the storm as one of the most powerful in history were correct or not. “For us, as meteorologists, it is interesting and exciting because it is one of the highest-intensity storms that we know of and we want to study it,” he said.
The storm was expected to leave the Philippines on Friday evening and was on a path to continue onto Vietnam in the next few days, according to the United States Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center, in Honolulu.
Charism Sayat/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images
High waves crashed into the sea wall on Friday as Typhoon Haiyan hit the city of Lagaspi, the Philippines.
Zander Casas/Reuters
A woman and her children took refuge in Cebu City.
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