Powerful typhoon headed for north Philippines strengthens

By JIM GOMEZ
Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A powerful typhoon has shifted and strengthened in an “explosive intensification” as it approached the northeastern Philippines. The storm might sideswipe the capital, Manila. Authorities have begun evacuating people Sunday from high-risk villages and bracing for potential disaster. Government forecasters said Typhoon Noru was swirling at sea about 110 miles east of Infanta town on the east coast, with sustained winds of 121 miles per hour and gusts of up to 149 mph at midday. It was forecast to smash into the coast later Sunday. Thousands of villagers were evacuated from the typhoon’s path and nearby villages prone to landslides, floods and tidal surges as high as 10 feet in Quezon province and nearby Aurora province.