Powerful typhoon hits north Philippines, thousands evacuated

Thousands of villagers were evacuated — some forcibly — from the typhoon's path, as well as from mountainside villages prone to landslides and flash floods.

A powerful typhoon slammed into the northeastern Philippines on Sunday and was barrelling across the main Luzon island toward the capital in a densely populated path where thousands have been evacuated to safety.

Typhoon Noru hit the coastal town of Burdeos on Polillo Island in Quezon province shortly before nightfall.

With sustained winds of 195 kilometres (121 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 240 kph (149 mph), it was expected to weaken slightly when it hits the Sierra Madre mountain range but will remain dangerously ferocious, forecasters said.

“The typhoon is strong and we live by the sea,” said Marilen Yubatan, who left her shanty in Manila with her two young daughters.

“If we fall into the water, I don't know where I will end up with my children.” The typhoon gained considerable strength from a storm with sustained winds of 85 kph (53 mph) on Saturday into a super typhoon just 24 hours later in an “explosive intensification” over the open sea, Vicente Malano, who heads the country's weather agency, told The Associated Press.

Thousands of villagers were evacuated — some forcibly — from the typhoon's path, as well as from mountainside villages prone to landslides and flash floods. Coastal communities could be hit by tidal surges as high as 3 metres (about 10 feet) in Quezon province, including Polillo island and nearby Aurora province.

“The combined effects of storm surge and high waves breaking along the coast may cause life-threatening and damaging inundation or flooding,” the weather agency warned.