The strongest typhoon this year slammed into the Philippines on Friday, setting off landslides, knocking out power in several province and cutting communications in the country's central region of island provinces. Four people died. Telephone lines appeared down as it was difficult to get through to the landfall site 650 kilometers (405 miles) southeast of Manila where Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the southern tip of Samar island before barreling on to Leyte Island. Two people were electrocuted in storm-related accidents, one person was killed by a fallen tree and another was struck by lightning, AP quoted official reports as saying. Close to 720,000 people had been evacuated from towns and villages in the typhoon's path across the central Philippines, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said. Among them were thousands of residents of Bohol who had been camped in tents and other makeshift shelters after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit the island province last month. Southern Leyte Gov. Roger Mercado said 31,000 people were evacuated in his landslide-prone mountainous province before the super typhoon struck, knocking out power, setting off small landslides that blocked roads in rural areas, uprooting trees and ripping roofs off houses around his residence. The dense clouds and heavy rains made the day seem almost as dark as night, he said.
