Yolanda hit Leyte and Samar with maximum sustained winds of around 235 km/h Friday, November 8, and generated waves up to three meters (10 feet) high that surged deep inland. Foreign meteorologists have put the wind speeds at a higher figure: 315 km/h.
However, while Leyte was believed to have been the worst hit, the carnage extended across a 600-km stretch of islands through the central Philippines.
A few dozen other deaths had been confirmed in some of these areas, but authorities admitted they were completely overwhelmed and many communities were still yet to be contacted.
