Typhoon Hagupit Triggers Massive Evacuation in Philippines
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - More than half a million people in the Philippines fled from a powerful typhoon in one of the world's biggest peacetime evacuations as the storm churns towards central provinces that still bear the scars of a super typhoon 13 months ago.
Typhoon Hagupit was approaching eastern coasts on Saturday, with its eye 230 km (143 miles) east northeast of Borongan, in Eastern Samar province, the weather bureau PAGASA said.
The storm was downgraded to a notch below super typhoon category but could still unleash huge destruction with torrential rain and potentially disastrous storm surges of up to 4.5 meters (15 feet).
With winds of up to 195 kph (121 mph) near the center and gusts of up to 215 kph (133 mph), the storm was moving slowly at 10 kph (6 mph) and was expected to hit Eastern or Northern Samar province early on Sunday, Reuters reported.
More than 616,000 residents of low-lying villages and landslide-prone areas have fled to schools, civic centers, town halls, gyms and churches, the national disaster agency said.
"We call on residents to voluntarily evacuate because the forecast is there will be a storm surge," Sofronio Dacillo, head of the disaster agency in the island province of Biliran in the central Philippines, said on national radio.
Residents of Eastern Samar said rain was falling and their power was fluctuating on Saturday morning.
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva said 200,000 people had been evacuated in the central island province of Cebu alone.
"Typhoon Hagupit is triggering one of the largest evacuations we have ever seen in peacetime," said spokesman Denis McClean.
Philippine Airlines (PAL.PS) and Cebu Pacific (CEB.PS) canceled nearly 100 flights to central and southern Philippines on Saturday.
