Super storm Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) made first land fall in the town of Guiuan in Eastern Samar at 4:40 in the morning of Friday after it officially entered the Philippine area of responsibility. Packing a maximum sustained wind of 235 kph and gustiness of 275 kph, Yolanda is considered the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded in history, according to private firm Weather Underground.

Government weather bureau PAGASA declared 58 areas, mostly in the Visayas region, along the storm’s path. Signal No.4 is declared in 21 areas including Northern and Eastern Samar, Southern Leyte, Biliran, Northern Cebu, Capiz, Aklan, Antique and Iloilo. Signal No. 3 is declared in 13 areas including Bohol island, which was recently wracked by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that displaced 400,000 people and killed more than 200, while 15 areas in South Luzon, including Metro Manila, are under Signal No.2.

The national government has instructed local disaster risk reduction and management units and agencies in different regions affected by typhoon Yolanda to implement the pre-emptive evacuation of thousands of residents in identified hazard areas. In Leyte province alone, more than 40,000 residents were evacuated from landslide, storm surge and flood-prone areas. Government agencies has estimated the number of people at risk to reach one million.

“We are expecting a severe disaster impact from typhoon Yolanda,” said Pastor Levilou Amora, program coordinator of UCCP in the East Visayas area. “As of now, it is hard for us to determine the extent of the damage in many areas affected by the typhoon as we have yet to receive data from our church-based disaster response units; maybe in the next few days because immediate mobility is difficult.”

“We are still reeling from the impact of the recent earthquake in Bohol and now we have another big whammy,” he said. Not only that the people’s capability to respond to disasters and the available resources are now overstretched but if more natural hazards of this magnitude would come before the year ends, the country’s economic woes will worsen and many of our people will suffer from hunger and despair, he added.