Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms to ever make landfall, hits several islands in the central Philippines. Tacloban, a coastal city with a population of 220,000, is destroyed. The death toll may reach 10,000 in Tacloban alone. According to the Social Welfare and Development Department, Typhoon Haiyan, called Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, affects 4.28 million people in at least 270 towns. Electricity and phone service is knocked out in many areas. Philippine Red Cross Secretary General Gwendolyn Pang is able to text this message, “The local Red Cross chapter has seen many bodies. An actual body count has to be done to determine the exact number.” According to meteorologists, Typhoon Haiyan hits the Philippines with winds of up to 190 miles per hour. A United Nations disaster team arrives to assess the damage. “This is destruction on a massive scale. There are cars thrown like tumbleweed. The last time I saw something of this scale was in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami,” says United Nations team member Sebastian Rhodes Stampa in a statement in which he refers to the 2004 tsunami that hit Indonesia.
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