Super Typhoon Haiyan Maps, Updates: Massive Storm Makes Landfall in the Philippines, Killing 4 People

Super Typhoon Haiyan has caused at least four deaths, while the death toll is expected to rise as the power storm continues to pummel through the Philippines and into Vietnam this weekend.

The massive storm crashed across the central islands of the Philippines Friday morning, forcing a million people to flee from their homes, widespread power outages and hundreds of flight cancellations, reports USA Today. With sustained winds of 195 mph and gusts as strong as 235 mph, it is possible that Haiyan may be the strongest tropical cyclone to ever hit land in recorded history, CNN reports.

The eye of the storm was moving away from the Philippines and into the South China Sea, however, high winds still battered the country.  The storm is predicted to churn across the South China Sea for the next couple of days. Before making landfall near Hue, Vietnam on Sunday, it is expected to skirt central Manila and fully exit the Philippines by Saturday morning local time, en route for the South China Sea, Vietnam and China.

Over 12 million people live in the storm's path, including Cebu City, with a population of about 2.5 million, and Bohol island, where a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit last month, killing at least 222 people.  Thousands of others were displaced and left homeless from the earthquake.

Haiyan, a category 5 typhoon, is the fourth typhoon to hit the Philippines this year and the third to make landfall in the Philippines since 2010, says meteorologist Jeff Masters of the Weather Underground. Last year, Super Typhoon Bopha killed over 1,900 people in the Philippines when it hit on Dec. 3.