Typhoon Hagupit Latest News 2014 Update: Half A Million People Flee Homes As Giant Storm Roars Towards Philippines
Just hours before a monster storm was expected to smash coastal areas in central Philippines on Saturday, about half a million people had already fled their homes and moved to higher ground.
Authorities said up to 32 million people could be affected when Typhoon Hagupit begins wreaking havoc on Philippine cities and countryside this weekend.
Although Hagupit weakened a bit on Friday and was no longer classified as a "super typhoon," it remained a Category 4 cyclone that poses a major threat on a country still recovering from the devastation caused by last year's Typhoon Haiyan, which killed 7,000 people and left 4 million homeless.
Typhoon Hagupit, named "Ruby" in the Philippines, was expected to once again hit the eastern islands of Samar and Leyte, the areas ravaged by Haiyan last year.
"I am afraid and scared," said Teresita Aban, a 58-year-old housewife from Santa Rita town in Samar province, wiping away tears from her eyes as her body trembled while speaking to a reporter. "We're prepared but still fearful. We haven't finished repairing our house. It still has tarpaulin patches -- and here comes another storm."
The Geneva-based United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction 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 the agency's spokesman Denis McClean.
The Philippine government said about half a million people are already hunkering down in evacuation centers. "Over 100,000 families are already in evacuation centers," said Corazon Soliman, Social Welfare secretary. "Multiply it by five (persons per family), that's 500,000," she added.
PAGASA, the Philippines' local weather bureau, announced on Friday afternoon that cold, dry Siberian winds blowing from the north had somewhat reduced Hagupit's strength. But it was still packing winds of up to 195 kph near the center, with gusts of up to 230 kph.
The agency said the radius of the storm had narrowed slightly to 600 km from 700 km, but said it would still have the capacity to unleash torrential rain and three - to four-meter storm surges when it slams into Eastern or Northern Samar provinces on Saturday evening.
It said the typhoon had veered slightly north and was moving west-northwest at around 13 kph.
As of Saturday morning, it was still unclear where the howler will go after making landfall. Philippine meteorologists predicted it would go west, but U.S. experts said it could veer northwest and directly hit Manila, the capital.
All flights and sea travel throughout the country had been suspended.
Meanwhile, Manila Archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle urged the faithful to pray the "Oratio Imperata for Deliverance from Calamaties" ahead of the typhoon's arrival.
"Let our preparations include prayer. Let us humble ourselves and seek the mercy and compassion of God at this time of impending peril and destruction," Tagle said.
"Along with our prayer for mercy and deliverance to God our Father, let us fill our hearts with compassion for those who are hungry, homeless, isolated by floods, threatened by strong winds and landslides. Let us pray that they may find food, shelter, and safety," the prelate said.
