Animation loop showing you the extremely vivid colors and cold cloud tops as Super Typhoon Haiyan continued to intensify. The dark colors show us intense convection and the true power of the storm. Image via NOAA.

Three years ago, the strongest typhoon ever known to make landfall ravaged the Philippines and triggered one of the world’s biggest humanitarian catastrophes and relief and recovery operations. More than 16 million people were affected by Typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda), approximately 7,350 people died, 4.1 million were displaced and 1 million homes were destroyed.

Losses were pegged at approximately $300 million. Because most of the affected area was extremely impoverished, 1 in 3 families were especially vulnerable to loss of income and shelter. The hardest hit areas, notably the Eastern Visayas region, experienced double-digit increases in poverty incidence.

In addition to the colossal damage, Haiyan was extraordinary because video of the event and aftermath were streamed into living rooms and offices worldwide. The dramatic storm surge — which caused the most devastation — was not predicted, but the typhoon’s direction and intensity was forecasted a couple days in advance, which allowed some media organizations to position themselves on the ground prior to the storm and share what they saw. Other distressing footage was captured and revealed on individual smartphones and devices.

In the weeks following the storm, journalists from around the world traveled to the Philippines to cover Haiyan. It seemed an ongoing crisis unfolding in real time. And it solicited a near unprecedented global reaction and outpouring of support.

Today, the desperate images from Tacloban — Haiyan’s ground zero — remains etched in the public’s memory. High-ranking diplomats visit the area every so often. The international development community continues its important work. But for the most part we have moved on. Even in the Philippines, media attention and memorials have died down, although, thanks to public awareness over Haiyan, the country appears more prepared to deal with the next natural disaster.

While Tacloban is more or less back on its feet, the poorer rural areas which we have visited — those more isolated and more dependent on subsistence farming and fishing — continue to feel the legacy pain from Haiyan. Re-establishing sustainable livelihoods and permanently resettling vulnerable families remain among the more stubborn challenges.

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Super Typhoon Haiyan moves towards the Philippines, on November 7, 2013 in the Pacific Ocean.

Survivors stand among debris and ruins of houses destroyed after Super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city in central Philippines, on November 10, 2013.

An aerial photo shows uprooted coconut trees on a hill near the town of Guiuan in Eastern Samar province in the central Philippines, on November 11, 2013 only days after Super Typhoon Haiyan devastated the town on November 8.

Survivors look up at a military C-130 plane as it arrives at typhoon-ravaged Tacloban city, Leyte province, on November 11, 2013.

A cargo ship washed ashore, four days after Super Typhoon Haiyan hit Anibong town, Tacloban city, on November 11, 2013.

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