At least 4 killed as super Typhoon Haiyan batters the Philippines

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Residents wait to be evacuated at the airport in Tacloban, Philippines, which was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan. (Odd Andersen / AFPGetty Images)

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Workers load bodies into a long trench for burial in Tacloban, Philippines. (Kevin Frayer / Getty Images)

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People wait to board flights at Tacloban airport in the Philippines, where thousands have been left homeless by Typhoon Haiyan. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images)

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Typhoon survivors wash appliances outside their damaged home in Tacloban, Philippines. (Aaron Favila / Associated Press )

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A Tacloban resident sits amid the remains of typhoon-wrecked homes. (Kevin Frayer / Getty Images)

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U.S. Marines arrive in Osprey aircraft to deliver aid at Tacloban airport in response to Typhoon Haiyan. (Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images)

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A woman carrying a child cries as other survivors of Typhoon Haiyan wait to board a C130 aircraft during the evacuation of hundreds of survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, Philippines. (Paula Bronstein / Getty Images)

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Stranded American missionaries are evacuated by the U.S. military in Leyte, Philippines. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

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A survivor from Tacloban, which was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, sits on the ground after disembarking a Philippine air force C-130 aircraft at the Villamor Airbase in Manila. (Vincent Yu / Associated Press)

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Typhoon Haiyan survivors hang signs from their necks as they queue up in the hopes of boarding a C-130 military transport plane in Tacloban, central Philippines. (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)

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A woman holding a child is surrounded by debris in an area devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in Leyte, Philippines. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

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Survivors wait in line to receive relief goods in an area devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in Leyte, Philippines. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

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Two people ride bikes through an area devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in Leyte, Philippines. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

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Survivors walk in typhoon-ravaged Tacloban city in central Philippines. (Aaron Favila / Associated Press)

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People walk among debris next to a ship washed ashore in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan at Anibong in Tacloban, the eastern island of Leyte on Monday. Hundreds of Philippine soldiers and police poured into a city devastated by Typhoon Haiyan to try to contain looting that threatens an emergency relief effort. (Noel Celis / AFP/Getty Images)

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Survivors move past the damages caused by Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, Leyte province, central Philippines on Monday. (Aaron Favila / Associated Press)

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Survivors look up at a military C-130 plane as it arrives at typhoon-ravaged Tacloban city, Leyte province in central Philippines on Monday. Stunned survivors of one of the most powerful typhoons ever to make landfall picked through the remains of their homes Monday and pleaded for food and medicine as the Philippines struggled to deal with what is likely its deadliest natural disaster. (Aaron Favila / Associated Press)

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Residents queue up to receive treatment and relief supplies at Tacloban airport Monday following Friday’s Typhoon Haiyan that lashed this city and several provinces in central Philippines. (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)

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An aerial image taken Monday from a Philippine air force helicopter shows the devastation of the first landfall by Typhoon Haiyan in Guiuan, Eastern Samar province, central Philippines. Authorities said at least 2 million people in 41 provinces had been affected by Friday’s Typhoon Haiyan and at least 23,000 houses had been damaged or destroyed. (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)

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This image taken by astronaut Karen L. Nyberg and released by NASA shows Typhoon Haiyan from the International Space Station on Saturday. More than 600,000 people were evacuated as Haiyan bore down on Vietnam, authorities said on Sunday, after the storm smashed through the Philippines on Friday leaving thousands feared dead and widespread devastation. (Karen L. Nyberg / AFP/Getty Images)

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Trees and telephone polls were upended by the storm. (Tara Yap, AFP/Getty Images)

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A Filipino boy stands among the debris of the super typhoon-devastated city of Tacloban, Leyte province. Philippine troops begin to retrieve bodies strewn in areas devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, which was feared to have killed more than 100 people. The most powerful cyclone in three decades battered the Philippines, killing a number of people and displacing over 718,000, disaster relief officials said. (FRANCIS R. MALASIG / EPA)

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Residents return to their houses after leaving an evacuation site in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, Phillipines. (NOEL CELIS, / AFPGetty Images)

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Bureau of Fire Protection volunteers in Manila pack relief goods bound for areas of the southern Philippines hit hard by powerful Typhoon Haiyan. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)

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A resident walks past high waves pounding the sea wall amid strong winds as Typhoon Haiyan hit the city of Legaspi. (Charism Sayat / AFP/Getty Images)

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A mother and her children brave heavy rains as they head for an evacuation center amid strong winds as Typhoon Haiyan pounded Cebu City. ( AFP/Getty Images)

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A three-wheeled motorcycle maneuvers in floodwaters in Taguig city. The most powerful typhoon in three decades battered the Philippines, killing at least four people and displacing more than 718,000. (Francis R. Malasig / EPA)

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A house is engulfed by the storm surge brought about by powerful Typhoon Haiyan that hit Legazpi city. (Nelson Salting / Associated Press)

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Debris litter the road by the coastal village in Legazpi city following a storm surge brought about by powerful Typhoon Haiyan. (Nelson Salting / Associated Press)

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A resident runs past an uprooted tree amidst strong winds as Typhoon Haiyan pounded Cebu City in central Philippines. (AFP/Getty Images)

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An Indigenous Filipino Badjao tries to secures a wooden boat during a heavy downpour brought by Typhoon Haiyan in Cebu province. (JAY ROMMEL LABRA / EPA)

By Alexandra Zavis

Nov. 8, 2013 11:35 AM PT

One of the strongest storms ever recorded battered the central Philippines on Friday, ripping off rooftops, knocking out power and communications and forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.

At least four people were confirmed killed as super Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, made landfall on Samar and raced across Leyte, Cebu, Panay and other nearby islands, officials said. They included a person killed by a falling tree, two who were electrocuted, and a 2-year-old who was struck by lightning.

Local television stations reported that bodies were washing up on shore and being found along roadways. But the Associated Press said the island nation in the western Pacific Ocean appeared to have avoided a major disaster because the storm sped through before causing more serious damage.

PHOTOS: Typhoon Haiyan slams Philippines

Last year, the slower-moving Typhoon Bopha killed more than 1,000 people.

More than 700,000 people were evacuated ahead of the storm, which could also limit the death toll, according to officials at the national disaster reponse agency. Many sought shelter at evacuation centers set up in 31 provinces.

Jiggy Manicad, a reporter for Philippines’ GMA television network said strong winds ripped off the roof of a church in the town of Palo, on Leyte, where he estimated at least 20 bodies were brought. Manicad said it felt like being “inside a washing machine,” as 124 mph winds whipped around his team for four hours.

Local news outlets said the storm knocked down trees and triggered landslides that made some roads impassible. Storm surges caused flooding in a large part of Tacloban city, on the island of Leyte, ABS-CBN television reported.

Dozens of flights were canceled, schools and offices closed, and ferry services were suspended, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

The U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said the Category 5 storm had sustained winds of 195 mph with gusts up to 235 mph. That was higher than local estimates. But if correct, it would be the highest figures recorded for a tropical cyclone when it made landfall, AP said.

The storm was expected to move out of the Philippines on Saturday morning and was on a path that could put it in Vietnam in the coming days, forecasters said.

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Twitter: @alexzavis

alexandra.zavis@latimes.com