TYPHOON YOLANDA (HAIYAN)
However, not all storms are at their peak strength when they hit land. Although Yolanda has set the all-time record for landfall strength, it is not the overall strongest typhoon ever known—but even so, it isn't far behind. In terms of overall strength, Yolanda is officially the fourth strongest tropical cyclone in world history, according to Masters. He said that the all-time record is still held by Super Typhoon Nancy in 1961 at 215 mph (346 kph), followed by Super Typhoon Violet in the same year at 205 mph (323 kph), and Super Typhoon Ida in 1958 with 200 mph (322 kph).
"(Yolanda) is one of the most intense tropical cyclones in world history," Masters said in a separate entry. He noted that, in the hours before it made landfall, Yolanda posted maximum sustained winds of 195 mph (314 kph), Meanwhile, meteorologist and weather journalist Eric Holthaus noted that Yolanda went off the charts as it approached the Philippines.
More than 10,000 feared dead in typhoon-ravaged Philippines
TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — The death toll from a supertyphoon that decimated entire towns in the Philippines could soar well over 10,000, authorities warned Sunday, making it the country’s worst recorded natural disaster.
The horrifying estimates came as rescue workers appeared overwhelmed in their efforts to help countless survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which sent tsunami-like waves and merciless winds rampaging across a huge chunk of the archipelago on Friday.
Police said they had deployed special forces to contain looters in Tacloban, the devastated provincial capital of Leyte, while the United States announced it had responded to a Philippine government appeal and would send military help.
“Tacloban is totally destroyed. Some people are losing their minds from hunger or from losing their families,” high school teacher Andrew Pomeda, 36, told AFP, as he warned of the increasing desperation of survivors.“People are becoming violent. They are looting business establishments, the malls, just to find food, rice and milk… I am afraid that in one week, people will be dying from hunger.”Authorities were struggling to even understand the sheer magnitude of the disaster, let alone react to it, with the regional police chief for Leyte saying 10,000 people were believed to have died in that province alone.
“We had a meeting last night with the governor and, based on the government’s estimates, initially there are 10,000 casualties (dead),” Chief Superintendent Elmer Soria told reporters in Tacloban.
“About 70 to 80 percent of the houses and structures along the typhoon’s path were destroyed.”
On the neighboring island of Samar, a local disaster chief said 300 people were killed in the small town of Baser.
He added another 2,000 were missing there and elsewhere on Samar, which was one of the first areas to be hit when Haiyan swept in from the Pacific Ocean with maximum sustained winds of 315 kilometers an hour.
Dozens more people were confirmed killed in other flattened towns and cities across a 600-kilometer (370-mile) stretch of islands through the central Philippines.
Residents pulling relief goods pass by dead bodies that lie on the street after powerful Typhoon Haiyan slammed into Tacloban city, Leyte province central Philippines on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013. AP
Tacloban Airport is covered by debris after powerful Typhoon Haiyan hit Tacloban city, in Leyte province in central Philippines, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013. AP
SOURCE:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/524491/10000-feared-dead-in-typhoon-hit-philippine-province-police
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