9:30PM IST: Typhoon Hagupit has made landfall in the eastern Philippines over the course of few hours, and reports have not yet emerged on the overall initial impact. According to BBC News, no casualties have been reported as of 11:30PM local time. Earlier reports have said trees have fallen as electricity were cut off from major cities. The typhoon was on course for the city of Tacloban until earlier, where thousands were killed by Typhoon Haiyan a year ago and . Follow the PAGMA's official Facebook updates for specific details on the Typhoon's journey.
9:00PM IST: PAGMA'S update as of 11pm local time says "Typhoon RUBY was located at 125km East Southeast of Catarman, Northern Samar or at Vicinity of Dolores, Eastern Samar (11.9N, 125.6E)," accoring to an official statement. It has also issued heavy rain warning no 3.
8:00PM IST: "Update: 10PM today 06Dec.2014, Typhoon RUBY was located at 140km East Southeast of Catarman, Northern Samar or at Vicinity of Dolores, Eastern Samar (11.9N, 125.8E)" said PAGMA in the latest post in Facebook.
7:30PM IST: Philippine forecasters have said typhoon Hagupit has slammed into eastern coast with ferocious winds, over the past hour or so, according to Associated Press. "as of 09:15PM, 06Dec.2014, Typhoon RUBY has made landfall in Dolores, Eastern Samar and its center was located at 140km East Southeast of Catarman, Northern Samar (12.0,125.8)," PAGASA, the Government agency for weather forecasting, flood control, astronomical observations, and time service said in a facebook post
6: 15PM IST: According to Project NOAH executive director Mahar Lagmay, cited by Rappler, Typhoon Ruby has made its landfall in Eastern Samar just after 8pm Saturday. This update has been confirmed by other news sources such as CNN. As of 7pm on Saturday, the eye of the typhoon was located at 70 km east of Doleres, Eastern Samar. Weather bureau reported earlier that Ruby has maximum sustained winds of 175km/h near the center and gustiness of up to 210 km/h. It is moving west with torrential rainfall of (10 to 30 mm/h) expected within its 600-km diameter path.
5:10PM IST: According to the latest update by CNN, the typhoon is packing sustained winds of 175 kilometers an hour (109 mph) near the storm's center, with gusts of up to 230 kph (143 mph).
4:40pm IST: "Up to 56m ppl estimated to be at risk from #Hagupit (#RubyPH). Supplies are being mobilised to areas under threat to allow prompt delivery," said International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the world's largest humanitarian network via a Tweet. Heavy rain and strong gusts have already lashed several parts of the country.
Update 4:30pm IST: Tacloban city – the same city worst hit by last year's Haiyan Typhoon remained shuttered most of Saturday as it braced for landfall on typhoon 'Ruby'. Malls, Restaurants and officers were closes. As of 2pm local time electricity all over the city was cut as was all TV cable services. Only hates and houses with generators had electrical power according to local website Inquirer.net.
Original Story
As many as half a million people have fled the coastal areas and villages, and have evacuated their homes in the Philippines, as the powerful typhoon 'Hagupit' begins to hit the archipelago on Saturday afternoon, according to the latest updates.
The huge storm system is on course for the Eastern and Northern Samar provinces including the city of Tacloban, where thousands of people died due to another Typhoon called Haiyan a year ago.
Typhoon Hagupit had weakened slightly on Friday night, but is due to make a landfall on Saturday evening local time. Reports suggest gusts are still peaking at around 196km/h (120mph).
According to Weather.com, the typhoon has gained strength as it currently closes in on Philippines, and landfall is expected in the latter part of Saturday.
"This is going to be a very, very powerful typhoon," Jon Erdman, a meteorologist told NBC News.
"We have no more excuse, we have gone through Yolanda (Haiyan), and to lose that many lives, it's beyond our conscience already," Jerry Yaokasin, vice-mayor of Tacloban said, BBC reported.
On Wednesday night, the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC) estimated Hagupit's maximum sustained 1-minute wind speed at 180 mph, making it as strong as Super Typhoons Vongfong and Nuri, which hit Japan in October and were the most powerful typhoon of 2014.
But at 10pm EST Friday, JTWC reduced its estimate of the storm's strength at around 140 mph, which means the typhoon is expected to be just under the "super" criteria. However, it remains equivalent to a major Category 4 hurricane, reports say.
Thousands of passengers were left stranded after Philippines Airlines and Cebu Pacific cancelled around 150 flights to the country on Friday and Saturday.
Inside Philippines, reports indicated that thousands of people were moved to higher grounds and safer buildings such as churches, schools and sports stadiums.
Watch this space for Live updates as the massive typhoon makes landfall.
6: 15PM IST: According to Project NOAH executive director Mahar Lagmay, cited by Rappler, Typhoon Ruby has made its landfall in Eastern Samar just after 8pm Saturday. As of 7pm on Saturday, the eye of the typhoon was located at 70 km east of Doleres, Eastern Samar. Weather bureau reported earlier that Ruby has maximum sustained winds of 175km/h near the center and gustiness of up to 210 km/h. It is moving west with torrential rainfall of (10 to 30 mm/h) expected within its 600-km diameter path.
