Powerful typhoon prompts evacuations in northern 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 sideswiped by the storm.
Typhoon Noru was swirling at sea about 115 kilometerseast of Infanta town in Quezon province with sustained winds of 195 kilometersand gusts of up to 240 kph at midafternoon. Forecasters expect it to smash into the coast later Sunday.
While barreling toward the archipelago, Noru changed track southward, pushed down by a high-pressure area to its north. Vicente Manalo, head of the country’s weather agency said, it gained considerable strength, transforming from a storm with sustained winds of 85 kph Saturday into a super typhoon just 24 hours later in an “explosive intensification” at sea.
Thousands of villagers were evacuated — some forcibly — 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 3 meters in Quezon province, including Polillo island and nearby Aurora province.