As a tropical storm approached, the Philippines’ disaster agency was alerted. The storm would bring heavy rain and strong winds to a large area of Luzon Island.
According to the latest advisory, Typhoon Noru with sustained winds up to 120 km/h (75 mph) was expected to intensify before it made landfall in Aurora and Quezon provinces on Sunday.
Noru was also expected affect the capital and northern provinces, which were both affected by a cyclone last year that caused flooding and landslides, and resulted in the deaths of three people.
The agency released a statement saying that “the highest emergency preparedness protocol and response protocol was activated” in many regions, including Metro Manila.
It stated that local governments were advised to preemptively evacuate communities in high-risk zones, due to weather warnings about flooding and landslides.
According to the weather bureau, Noru was moving westward, and would likely emerge over the South China Sea (also known as the East Sea of Vietnam) by Sunday night or Monday morning.