The wind's strength made "Ruby" the most powerful storm to hit the Philippines this year, exceeding a typhoon in July that killed more than 100 people. "Tin roofs are flying off, trees are falling and there is some flooding," Stephany Uy-Tan, the mayor of Catbalogan, a major city on Samar, told AFP by phone minutes after Hagupit made landfall. Fearful of a repeat of last year when Super Typhoon "Yolanda" (international name: Haiyan) claimed more than 7,350 lives, the government undertook a massive evacuation effort ahead of Hagupit that saw millions of people seek shelter.
"Ruby" was forecast to take three days to cut across the Philippines, passing over mostly poor central regions, while also bringing heavy rain to the densely populated capital of Manila slightly to the north. The government warned of storm surges up to five metres (16-feet) high in some areas, flash flooding, landslides and winds strong enough to tear apart even sturdy homes. Tens of millions of people live in the typhoon's path, including those in the central Philippines who are still struggling to recover from the devastation of Haiyan, which hit 13 months ago.
In those that were reachable, residents and officials reported terrifying winds and waves that destroyed homes, although with most people in evacuation centres there were hopes casualties would be few. In Tacloban, one of the cities worst-hit by "Yolanda," palm-thatch temporary houses built by aid agencies for survivors of last year's typhoon had been torn aport, vice mayor Jerry Yaokasin told AFP.
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