Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in 2004 , devastating cities such as Tacloban . CNN 's Andrew Stevens returned to the city almost seven months on . But the evidence of one of the most intense storms in recorded history is everywhere -- in shattered steel structures that were once factories , as well as the many wrecked houses left by their owners to rot in the searing tropical heat . Landscape ##d with wrecked cars , cut - down trees slowly replaced by signs of rebuilding .
Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in 2004 , devastating cities such as Tacloban . CNN 's Andrew Stevens returned to the city almost seven months on . Landscape ##d with wrecked cars , cut - down trees slowly replaced by signs of rebuilding .