November 8, 2013

Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the central Philippines this morning with torrential rain, sustained winds of 199 miles (320 kilometers) per hour, and gusts of up to 235 miles (380 kilometers) per hour. The storm made landfall on the island of Samar. Meteorologists said that if initial estimates based on satellite images are borne out, this “super” Category 5 cyclone could be the most powerful storm ever to make landfall. Jeff Masters, meteorology director of Weather Underground, noted in a blog post this morning that the damage from Haiyan’s winds to Guiuan, a small city in Samar province, may be “perhaps the greatest wind damage any city on Earth has endured from a tropical cyclone in the past century.”

Typhoon Haiyan moves over the central Philippines on November 8, in an image captured by a NASA satellite. (NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team)

The storm system has a diameter of some 500 miles (800 kilometers), so large that its clouds are affecting two-thirds of the island nation and some 20 million people. Haiyan has forced millions of residents in at least 20 provinces to evacuate and seek shelter. Three central islands–Samar, Leyte, and the northern tip of Cebu–are being lashed by the storm. The capital, Manila, which is some 370 miles (600 kilometers) north of where the typhoon made landfall, is not expected to take a direct hit. Officials in Manila noted that before communications were completely cut off, they had receivled reports of collapsed buildings on Samar and Leyte and the total loss of electric power. Governor Roger Mercado of Southern Leyte informed Manila that “all roads” were impassable because of fallen trees.

“We expect the level of destruction caused by Typhoon Haiyan to be extensive and devastating, and sadly we fear that many lives will be lost,” Anna Lindenfors, Philippines director of Save the Children, told the BBC. The U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning center in Honolulu has predicted that he storm will move out of the Philippines tonight and continue on to Vietnam over the next few days.

Additional World Book articles:

• The Forecast: Better Weather Prediction Ahead (a special report)
• How the Ocean Affects Climate (a special report)