Typhoon Haiyan death toll rises over 5000

The death toll from Typhoon Haiyan has risen above 5,000, two weeks after the devastating storm hit the country, the BBC reported Friday. The country's National Disaster Agency said that 5,209 people are now known to have lost their lives, with many more still missing. That makes Haiyan, known as Yolanda in the Philippines, the deadliest natural disaster in the country's history. Haiyan was one of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded. Winds of up to 270km/h hit the central Philippines when it made landfall on 8 November. Parts of low-lying islands were completely flattened, and over a million houses were damaged.