Typhoon Haiyan currently lashing the Philippines is the strongest tropical cyclone on record to make landfall, according to US weather watchers.<br /><br />Waves of up to six metres high have been reported; wind gusts have reached over 300 kilometres an hour.<br /><br />There are fears that the number of casualties could rise substantially.<br /><br />At least three people have been confirmed dead and seven injured, but the Red Cross said the humanitarian impact of the typhoon threatens to be colossal.<br /><br />“I saw those big waves and immediately told my neighbours to flee. We thought it was a tsunami,” said one resident of the central Visayan islands. <br /><br />One million people have fled their homes as their villages were flooded and battered. The authorities have warned that more than 12 million are at risk.<br /><br />Schools are being used as emergency shelters, but some question whether even public buildings can withstand the winds.<br /><br />Trees and cables have been brought brought down and many roads are impassable.<br /><br />Communications in the three large islands of Samar, Leyte and Bohol were almost completely down but the authorities promised to restore them within 24 hours.<br /><br />The governor of Samar province, Sharee Tan, said the whole of her province was without power. Fallen trees, toppled electric poles<br />and other debris blocked roads, she said.<br /><br />Authorities suspended ferry services and fishing and shut 13 airports. Nearly 450 domestic, and eight international, flights were cancelled.<br /><br />Meanwhile China has been bracing itself for Haiyan’s approach. The typhoon is expected to move past the Philippines on Saturday and out over the South China Sea.<br /><br />Ships in surrounding waters have been warned to return to port.
