Powerful typhoon moves closer to Philippines

A powerful typhoon shifted and abruptly gained strength Sunday as it blew closer to the northeastern Philippines, prompting evacuations from high-risk villages and the capital, which could be sidewiped by the storm, officials said.

Typhoon Noru was in the sea about 71 miles east of Infanta town in Quezon province, with sustained winds of 121 miles per hour and gusts of up to 149 mph at mid-afternoon. Forecasters expect it to smash into the coast later in the day.

Noru changed his track south, pushed down by a high-pressure area to the north while barreling toward the archipelago. Vicente Malano, who heads the country's weather agency, said the country gained considerable strength, transforming from a storm with sustained winds of 53 mph Saturday into a super typhoon just 24 hours later in an explosive intensification at sea.

Thousands of villagers were evacuated from the typhoon's path, as well as from mountainside villages prone to landslides and flash floods, and in coastal communities that could be hit by tidal surges as high as 10 feet in Quezon province, including Polillo island and nearby Aurora province.

The weather agency warned that the combined effects of storm surge and high waves along the coast could cause life-threatening and damaging flooding or inundation.

In the seaside slum district of Tondo, some residents left their homes with bags of belongings and hurriedly walked to a nearby evacuation center as the sky darkened and rains started to fall.

The typhoon is strong and we live by the sea, said 50-year-old Marilen Yubatan, who left her two young daughters in their shanty. If we fall into the water, I don't know where we will end up with my children. Melchor Avenilla Jr.Avenilla Jr., who is head of Quezon's disaster response office, said law enforcers were under orders to forcibly move people who refuse to leave their homes. Avenilla told AP by phone that they had been able to do this by just appealing to people.

Several provinces and cities, including the densely populated Manila, suspended classes and government work Sunday and Monday. The typhoon's eye could pass about 25 to 30 miles from metropolitan Manila, which is nearly a direct hit, Malano said.

stranding cargo trucks and more than 2,500 passengers was a precaution, the coast guard said. More than 30 flights at Manila's airport, mostly bound for domestic destinations, were canceled.

The typhoon is expected to sweep through the main Luzon Island overnight and into the South China Sea on Monday. It is still on track to hit Vietnam later in the week, but it is on track to hit Vietnam later in the week.

Each year, about 20 storms and typhoons batter the Philippines. The archipelago is also in the Pacific Ring of Fire, a region along most of the Pacific Ocean rim, where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur, making the Southeast Asian nation one of the world s most disaster-prone.

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones in the world, left more than 7,300 dead or missing, flattened entire villages, swept ships inland and displaced more than 5 million in the central Philippines - well south of Noru's path.