The most intense typhoon on record has killed four people and forced almost 720,000 people to flee their homes, leaving behind a trail of destruction and devastation.
Super typhoon Haiyan smashed into coastal communities on the central island of Samar, 370 miles southeast of Manila, this morning with maximum sustained winds of 195mph and gusts of up to 235mph.
According to The U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center, which measures average wind speed accurate to every minute, that made Haiyan more powerful than the 1969 Hurricane Camille, which battered Mississippi in the United States with winds of 190mph.
This NASA satellite image shows what is the strongest storm ever closing in on the Philippines
Debris which was washed in by the storm litters the road by the coastal village in Legazpi
A resident runs past an uprooted tree amidst strong winds as the super-typhoon battered Cebu City, in the central Philippines this morning
Residents of Legaspi, Albay province, south of Manila resident, were forced to flee the coast as Haiyan continued to pound the sea wall today