Typhoon Haiyan: Red Cross estimates 1,200 dead as winds slam Philippines
MANILA – Early reports suggest 1,000 people have died in the coastal city of Tacloban and at least 200 more in the Samar province when one of the strongest typhoons ever to make landfall slammed into the country, the Red Cross said Saturday.
Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, said the numbers came from preliminary reports by Red Cross teams on the ground.
The typhoon generated nearly 200-mph winds as it rampaged through on Friday. By noon (11 p.m. ET Friday), its top winds had lessened to 110 mph - after having approached 195 mph at landfall Friday morning. Its center had cleared the country and was about 380 miles west of San Jose.
It was downgraded overnight from a "super typhoon," equivalent to a category 4 or 5 hurricane, to a typhoon.
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/09/21381516-typhoon-haiyan-red-cross-estimates-1200-dead-as-winds-slam-philippines?lite
