"This one was incredibly intense and big," Curry said. "The strength of this typhoon is phenomenal and the way it moved across the Philippines is something of serious concern."

He feared that islands will experience the most fatalities.

"There are a lot of rural areas, a lot of small islands that are affected. We don't know how they can protect themselves from a typhoon of this strength," Curry said.

Clarson Fruelda, of Cebu City, said residents were cleaning up dirt, leaves, coconuts and tree branches from their homes.

"The winds were the strongest that I felt in more than 20 years," Fruelda said. "These past few weeks were really tough for my wife and I and probably for Cebuanos as well since it was just a few weeks ago when we were hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake."

 

Higher tolls

Experts predicted the casualty toll would soar once aid workers get to the hardest-hit areas, many of which were totally isolated with no phone service and no electricity.

About 125,000 people took refuge in evacuation centers, and hundreds of flights were canceled.

With sustained winds of 195 mph (315 kph) and gusts as strong as 235 mph (380 kph), Haiyan may be the strongest tropical cyclone in recorded history. It will take further analysis after the storm passes to establish whether it is a record.

Haiyan was on a westward track when it raced into Samar traveling at 25 mph (41 kph), which meant the worst was over quickly.

'The strongest I ever felt'

Maryann Zamora, a field communications specialist for the charity World Vision, said her organization "has been working through so many disasters, so many typhoons -- but this is quite different."

"This is the strongest I ever felt so far," she said by phone from the island of Cebu.

Culled from cnn.com