Tacloban, the main city on the island of Leyte, bore the brunt of the damage. More than 90% of it was destroyed by Haiyan's tsunami-like 7m-high storm surges. More than 2,000 people were killed in Tacloban City alone.
A year after the typhoon, thousands of people who were left homeless by the storm, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Yolanda, are still living in tents.
IBTimesUK presents 40 poweful images showing the unprecedented force of the storm and the scale of the destruction and loss of lives it caused.
November 8, 2013: Residents run for shelter as category-5 super typhoon Haiyan hits Cebu city, Philippines, downing trees and power lines and destroying housesReutersNovember 9, 2013: A mother weeps beside the dead body of her son at a chapel in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, on the eastern Philippine island of LeyteAFPNovember 10, 2013: A boy who was wounded by flying debris surveys the ruins of his family's house in TaclobanNovember 10, 2013: Empty coffins lie on a street near houses damaged after super Typhoon Haiyan battered TaclobanReutersNovember 11, 2013: An aerial view of a coastal town in Samar province, devastated by super Typhoon HaiyanReutersNovember 11, 2013: A relative holds newborn baby Beatriz Joy as her mother, 21-year-old Emily Sagalis, lies among debris at a makeshift clinic in TaclobanReutersNovember 11 2013:Newborn baby Beatriz Joy is cared for at a makeshift medical centre in the storm-damaged city of Tacloban, after being born to 21-year-old Emily Sagalis. The baby was named to honour her grandmother, who was swept away by powerful waves whipped up by the typhoonAFPNovember 11, 2013: Residents pick up pieces of wood inbetween two cargo ships that were washed ashore when super typhoon Haiyan hit Anibong town, TaclobanReutersNovember 12, 2013: Survivors search through bags containing bodies of typhoon victims in Tacloban after it was devastated by Typhoon HaiyanReutersNovember 12, 2013: Bodies are lined up at a makeshift morgue in Tacloban, on the eastern island of Leyte, after Super Typhoon Haiyan swept over the PhilippinesAFPNovember 12, 2013: An elderly woman and an injured man are carried to a waiting C130 aircraft during the evacuation of hundreds of survivors of typhoon Haiyan from TaclobanGettyNovember 12, 2013: A man cries on a packed C130 aircraft as he and hundreds of other survivors of super typhoon Haiyan are evacuated from TaclobanGettyNovember 12, 2013: One of the statues commemorating the landing of US General Douglas MacArthur and his Allied forces lies face down in the water after being toppled by super typhoon Haiyan in Palo, Leyte provinceReutersNovember 13, 2013: Bodies are left for collection by the fire department at a bus stop in Tacloban CityReutersNovember 14, 2013: An aerial view of a demolished coastal town on Eastern Samar Island in LeyteGettyNovember 14, 2013: A typhoon victim cries as she boards a Philippines Army C130 cargo plane as she and others are evacuated at Tacloban airportAFPNovember 15, 2013: Gerardo Alvarez, a 53-year-old evacuee from Tacloban, grimaces while strapped to a wheelchair at Brigadier General Benito N Ebuen Airbase in Cebu. Alvarez's mother and sister were killed by the typhoon, and he died five days after being brought to Manila for medical attentionReutersNovember 15, 2013: A woman and her newborn baby lie on the floor in Tacloban Hospital in LeyteGettyNovember 15, 2013: A rainbow appears above Typhoon Haiyan survivors desperate to catch a flight from Tacloban airportReutersNovember 15, 2013: A girl stands on the balcony of her typhoon-destroyed house in LeyteGettyNovember 16, 2013: Rescue workers carry bodies into a mass grave on the outskirts of TaclobanAFPNovember 18, 2013: Survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan march during a religious procession in Tolosa on the eastern Philippine island of LeyteAFPNovember 18, 2013: An aerial photo of Ormoc, where villagers created a message that reads 'We Need Food Help Us' among the devastation created by typhoon HaiyanAFPNovember 18, 2013: Survivors of Typhoon Haiyan try to get aid and relief items distributed from a truck near their shelter in TaclobanReutersNovember 18, 2013: A family gathers around a grave of a relative that was killed when Typhoon Haiyan struck their home in LeyteGettyNovember 20, 2013: A destroyed house stands in the midst of fallen trees near Guiuan, Eastern SamarReutersNovember 20, 2013: Survivors place a makeshift flag over a sports hall destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan, in TaclobanReutersNovember 21, 2013: Children play inside the bathroom of a house toppled by Super Typhoon HaiyanReutersNovember 21, 2013: A ship lies next to damaged houses in Tacloban after it was swept ashore at the height of Typhoon HaiyanReutersNovember 21, 2013: Members of the Philippine military in a helicopter drop bottled water to Typhoon Haiyan survivors in TolosaReutersNovember 23, 2013: A smashed Jeepney (a Jeep used for public transport) is reflected in the water in TaclobanGettyNovember 23, 2013: An aerial view shows the damage to the town of Palo after Typhoon Haiyan hit the east coast of the PhilippinesAFPNovember 24, 2013: A woman made homeless by super typhoon Haiyan holds her daughter while looking at her flattened home from a partially damaged building in TaclobanAFPNovember 24, 2013: People walk through an area devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in TaclobanReutersNovember 25, 2013: A man rests on his damaged house on the shore in Tacloban, Leyte ProvinceAFPNovember 25, 2013: A ship that washed ashore, crushing houses, is seen in Tacloban, Leyte ProvinceAFPNovember 27, 2013: Typhoon survivors clear up debris from destroyed houses in TaclobanAFPDecember 7, 2013: A girl sits among debris of destroyed houses in Tacloban, which was torn apart by one of the most powerful typhoons on recordAFPDecember 17, 2013 A typhoon survivor decorates a Christmas tree amid the rubble of destroyed houses in Tacloban cityReutersDecember 24, 2013: Survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan decorate a giant Christmas lantern among destroyed houses in TaclobanAFP
