A powerful typhoon has brought heavy rains and strong winds to eastern Philippines, toppling trees, overturning tin roofs and cutting power lines in areas still bearing the scars of Typhoon Haiyan last November.
Hagupit has weakened to a Category 3 storm, two notches below "super typhoon", but could still cause huge destruction with heavy rain and storm surges of up to 4.5 metres expected.
Julie Breen from Trocaire says up to a million people have evacuated:
The typhoon made landfall on Saturday night in central Eastern Samar province, with wind speeds of up to 210km an hour.
Samar is the third largest island in the Philippines.
This infrared image shows a close up on Hagupit's eye | Image: NOAA
The winds, as well as pounding rain, has knocked out power lines and toppled trees in the town of Dolores.
The Philippines' 120,000-strong military has gone on full alert to respond to a possible catastrophe.
General Gregorio Pio Catapang said: "We're on red alert, so the entire armed forces is being mobilised for this typhoon."
Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas tried to calm anxious families, and urged for as much preventative action to be taken as possible. The winds are strong enough to trigger deadly storm surges and landslides.
In a televised address, he said: "This is it. I know you are tired, not enough sleep, not enough food, too much coffee. But this is our last push. Every person we can save now is one less we have to look for after the typhoon passes."
Troops have been deployed to supermarkets and major roads to prevent looting and clear debris.
The UN says the evacuation is one of the largest in Philippine history.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says Hagupit is expected to remain a super typhoon through landfall.
Forecasters had been predicting that the typhoon would follow a more southern route, and have warned that its path is unpredictable.
Blanche Gobenciong, a regional disaster-response director, said: "We have a zero-casualty target. Just one loss of life will really sadden us all and make us wonder what went wrong."
Jenny MacCann from charity World Vision is in the city of Tacloban - one of the areas devastated by Typhoon Haiyan last November:
Originally posted at 14.22
