Filipinos flee as typhoon roars in eastern coast

'Terrified of storm'

More than a thousand residents of Tacloban, a city on Leyte, fled to an indoor government stadium early on Tuesday after the weather service warned of the threat of 3-meter waves hitting the coast.

"We're terrified of storm surges," a mother of three, Mary Ann Avelino, 26, said as her family sat on cold concrete bleacher seats, watching puddles of water form on the floor from the leaky roof.

She said her family had temporarily abandoned a lean-to at the ruins of their coastal home to sit out the new typhoon on higher ground.

Heavy rains and strong winds pounded the Bicol coasts in the late afternoon, though there were no reports of casualties or damage, Joey Salceda, the governor of Albay province in Bicol, said on ABS-CBN television.

Rammasun is the first to make landfall since this year's rainy season began in June, and authorities and local media sought to ensure that all potentially affected communities were well informed and prepared.

Rammasun, which is Thai for "God of Thunder", is expected to bring wind gusts of up to 180 km/h when it makes landfall, according to the US military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

The government cancelled most classes in Manila and Bicol on Tuesday, while dozens of domestic flights were also grounded.