Storm surges hit coastal communities in eastern Leyte and southern Samar facing the Leyte Gulf.
The powerful storm surges that had not been forecast to hit Tacloban caused a disproportionate level of destruction to the city compared to other provinces.
Tacloban had the most deaths—2,600 of the 6,300 total—among all the 41 provinces devastated by the supertyphoon.
The city of 221,000 people (daytime population) thus became ground zero of the strongest storm ever to hit land anywhere on the planet.
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