More than half a million people in the Philippines have fled from a powerful typhoon in one of the world's biggest peacetime evacuations as the storm churns toward central provinces that still bear the scars of a supertyphoon 13 months ago.
Typhoon Hagupit was approaching eastern coasts on Saturday, with its eye 230 km (145 miles) east-northeast of Borongan, in Eastern Samar province, the weather bureau PAGASA said.
The storm was downgraded to a notch below supertyphoon category but could still unleash huge destruction with torrential rain and potentially disastrous storm surges of up to 4.5 meters (15 feet).
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.