CNN|Added on November 7, 2013
Jonathan Mann speaks with World Vision's
Mikhaela de Leon about the winds being caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan.
News Stream|Added on November 7, 2013
Millions expected to be impacted when Haiyan
makes landfill Friday. CNN's Andrew Stevens is on location reporting.
Around the World|Added on November 7, 2013
CNN Chief Meteorologist Chad Myers says
Typhoon Haiyan could be one of the biggest storms that the planet has ever
seen.
By Jethro Mullen, CNN
November 7, 2013 -- Updated 1923 GMT (0323
HKT)
(CNN) -- Thousands of people in vulnerable areas of the Philippines
are being relocated as one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever observed
spins toward the country.
With sustained winds of 315 kph (195 mph) and
gusts as strong as 380 kph (235 mph), Super Typhoon Haiyan was churning across
the Western Pacific toward the central Philippines.
Its wind strength makes it equivalent to an
exceptionally strong Category 5 hurricane.
The storm, known as Yolanda in the
Philippines, is expected to still be a super typhoon, with winds in excess of
240 kph (149 mph), when it makes landfall Friday morning in the region of
Eastern Visayas.
The storm is so large in diameter that clouds
from it are affecting two-thirds of the country.
Authorities in the region had
moved more than 3,800 people to evacuation centers by late Thursday, Maj.
Reynaldo Balido of the Philippine Office of Civil Defense said.
Most of those relocated live in Tacloban
City, which sits on the coast of the island of Leyte and has a population of
more than 200,000.
In a speech Thursday, President Benigno S.
Aquino III warned residents of the "calamity our countrymen will face in
these coming days."
"Let me repeat myself: This is a very
real danger, and we can mitigate and lessen its effects if we use the
information available to prepare," he said.
The government has three C-130 cargo aircraft
ready to respond, as well as 32 planes and helicopters from the air force, the
president said.
Officials have placed relief supplies in the
areas that are expected to get hit, Aquino said.
"The effects of this storm can be eased
through solidarity," he said.
Earthquake
survivors vulnerable
As it moves across heavily populated areas of
the central Philippines, Haiyan's high winds and torrential rain are expected
to affect millions of people. The storm system had a diameter of about 800
kilometers (500 miles) as of early Thursday afternoon.
The Philippine weather agency, Pagasa, warned
more than 30 provinces across the country Thursday to be prepared for possible
flash floods and landslides.
Schools in many areas canceled classes,
emergency services were put on high alert, and airlines canceled flights.
Some of the most vulnerable people are those
living in makeshift shelters on the central Philippine island of Bohol.
Last month, a
7.1-magnitude earthquake hit the island, which lies close to the typhoon's
predicted path. The quake killed at least 222 people, injured nearly 1,000 and
displaced around 350,000, according to authorities.
Beach
resort threatened
Another island in the storm's likely
trajectory is the popular beach resort of Boracay. Some tourists there were
cutting their vacations short to get away from the possible danger.
Ross Evans, an aviation professional from
Florida, said there was "a definite urgency and panic" among the long
lines of holidaymakers waiting for boats to get off Boracay on Thursday.
Speaking by phone before his flight to Manila
took off, he said he felt "horrible" for those who may end up stuck
in the storm's path.
Evans said he and his travel companions, who
are leaving the Philippines two days earlier than planned, "feel very
fortunate to have the ability to make arrangements to be safe."
Situated near an area of the Pacific Ocean
where tropical cyclones form, the Philippines regularly suffers severe storm
damage.
An average of 20 typhoons hit the
archipelagic nation every year, and several of those cause serious damage.
In December 2012, Typhoon Bopha wreaked
widespread devastation on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. The
storm, the most powerful to hit the country that year, is estimated to have
killed as many as 1,900 people.
CNN's
Judy Kwon, Taylor Ward, Ivan Cabrera and Mari Ramos contributed to this report.
###