Heavy rain and strong winds began to hit the eastern Philippines Saturday ahead of a giant storm threatening more devastation to areas yet to recover from a super typhoon that killed thousands.
Typhoon Hagupit was moving slowly in the Pacific Ocean towards the disaster-plagued Southeast Asian nation and is expected to make landfall before dawn on Sunday, forecasters said.
More than 600,000 people in coastal areas were in evacuation centres according to the government, and many others were expected to pour in throughout Saturday amid warnings of house-destroying winds, giant storm surges and landslides.
Hagupit was forecast to hit remote fishing communities on the far eastern island of Samar first, then cut across mostly poor farming central regions, and possibly the densely populated capital of Manila.
Many communities in the central Philippines are still battling to recover from Super Typhoon Haiyan, the most powerful storm ever recorded on land, which left more than 7,350 people dead or missing in November last year.
In Tacloban, one of the cities worst-hit by Haiyan's monster winds and tsunami-like storm surges, thousands of people on Saturday crammed into schools, churches and other evacuation centres.
'Fear'
"We are afraid. People are panicking," Alma Gaut, 36, whose house was destroyed and mother died during Haiyan, told AFP as she huddled in the second floor of a university with more than 1,000 other people.
"All we have is a tattered, plastic sheet to sleep on. My grandmother is already feeling the cold."
Outside, the town appeared almost deserted as rain began to fall and trees bent with the wind in what residents feared was an ominous prelude to another bout of ferocious weather.
In Catbalogan, the capital of neighbouring Samar island forecast to be the first place hit by the storm, authorities were preparing for water surges more than one storey high.
More than 10,000 people had been ordered into safe buildings, according to mayor Stephany Uy-Tan.
"We don't want people to panic but I ordered forced evacuations so they would be safe," the mayor told AFP by phone.
"There are always some people who say the wind is not yet that strong, that there is still no rain... we just have to explain that there is a huge possibility of a storm surge."
In the eastern region of Bicol alone, authorities said they were aiming for 2.5 million people -- half the local population -- to be in evacuation centres by Saturday night.
Hagupit was on Saturday morning about 180 kilometres (110 miles) east of Samar island, according to local weather agency Pagasa.
Its rains and winds could impact 50 million people, or half the nation's population, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman told AFP.
The typhoon was generating sustained winds of 185 kilometres an hour and gusts of 220 kilometres an hour which, if maintained at landfall, would make it the strongest to hit the Philippines this year.
The previous strongest storm this year was Rammasun, which killed more than 100 people when it cut across Manila and other parts of the main island of Luzon in July.
The Philippines endures about 20 major storms a year which, along with regular earthquakes and volcano eruptions, make it one of the world's most disaster-plagued countries.
The storms regularly claim many lives but they are becoming more violent and unpredictable because of climate change, according to the United Nations and many scientists.
And in the previous two years, there were consecutive December storms that together claimed more than 3,000 lives.
AFP
Sat Dec 06 2014
![Rains lash disaster-weary Philippines as typhoon nears Rains lash disaster-weary Philippines as typhoon nears](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2014-12/61417850788_295x200.jpg)
Residents being evacuated to a safer place in Legazpi City ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Hagupit. - AFP Photo/Charism Sayat
![Kes bunuh Nur Farah Kartini: Suspek berkhidmat 5 tahun dalam PDRM Kes bunuh Nur Farah Kartini: Suspek berkhidmat 5 tahun dalam PDRM](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/81721102947_suspekbunuhNurFar.jpg)
Kes bunuh Nur Farah Kartini: Suspek berkhidmat 5 tahun dalam PDRM
Anggota berusia 26 tahun terbabit bertugas di Balai Polis Slim River di bawah Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah (IPD) Muallim dengan pangkat lans koperal.
![Perunding pelaburan didakwa terlibat pengubahan wang haram hampir RM1 juta Perunding pelaburan didakwa terlibat pengubahan wang haram hampir RM1 juta](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721117052_SaifulNizamSaharud.jpg)
Perunding pelaburan didakwa terlibat pengubahan wang haram hampir RM1 juta
Seorang perunding pelaburan mengaku tidak bersalah atas empat pertuduhan pengubahan wang haram berjumlah hampir RM1 juta.
Purata suhu meningkat 0.24 darjah celcius per dekad
Berdasarkan rekod dari tahun 1969 hingga 2019, purata suhu bulanan di Semenanjung Malaysia pada bulan Mei 2024 adalah 28.8 darjah celcius manakala purata suhu bulanan pada bulan Mei 1974 iaitu 50 tahun yang lalu adalah 26.6 darjah celcius.
ADUN dari kerajaan perpaduan sertai Pas
Menurut Takiyuddin, keahlian Muhamad Jailani yang juga wakil rakyat UMNO diterima pada 10 Jun tahun lalu, namun diumumkan secara rasmi hari ini.
![Kerajaan lihat semula perjanjian penjualan air kepada Singapura - Fadillah Kerajaan lihat semula perjanjian penjualan air kepada Singapura - Fadillah](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/81720085306_FadillahYusof.jpg)
Kerajaan lihat semula perjanjian penjualan air kepada Singapura - Fadillah
Fadillah berkata perkara itu sudah berlaku ketika zaman pentadbiran bekas Perdana Menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad lagi.
![Pelancong asing ditahan disyaki cabul pekerja spa di Pulau Perhentian Pelancong asing ditahan disyaki cabul pekerja spa di Pulau Perhentian](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2022-07/51658407048_Cabul.jpg)
Pelancong asing ditahan disyaki cabul pekerja spa di Pulau Perhentian
Polis menahan seorang pelancong lelaki warga Maghribi kerana disyaki mencabul seorang juruterapi wanita rakyat tempatan di Pulau Perhentian.
Warga Thailand seludup diesel dihadapkan mahkamah
Seorang pemandu lori warga Thailand dihadapkan ke mahkamah atas menyeleweng 322 liter minyak diesel minggu lalu.
ADUN Rembia sertai Pas: YB Kampar minta buka riben putih
Susulan pengumuman ADUN Rembia sertai Pas dalam sidang media, YB Kampar, Chong Zhemin kemuka Peraturan Mesyuarat dan menyifatkan satu penghinaan besar buat Parlimen.
#SisiTVParlimen
#AWANInews
#SisiTVParlimen
#AWANInews
![Malaysia, Brunei dalam proses rundingan muktamad sempadan darat negara - Mohamad Malaysia, Brunei dalam proses rundingan muktamad sempadan darat negara - Mohamad](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/41720590984_DatukSeriMohamadH.jpg)
Malaysia, Brunei dalam proses rundingan muktamad sempadan darat negara - Mohamad
Mohamad Hasan berkata buat masa ini, kerja-kerja penandaan dan pengukuran di lapangan telah meliputi 175.96 km atau 33.3 peratus daripada keseluruhan jarak sempadan.
Kim Pan Gon undur diri kesan kepada Harimau Malaya
Apa reaksi peminat Harimau Malaya dan penganalisis sukan mengenai peletakan jawatan Kim Pan-Gon?