Super Typhoon Haiyan nears Philippines

Philippine officials said Thursday that thousands of villagers, including those from a central province devastated recently by an earthquake, are being evacuated as one of Asia's most powerful typhoons this year approaches.

Typhoon Haiyan already had sustained winds of 134 miles per hour and ferocious gusts of 155 mph, and could pick up strength over the Pacific Ocean before it slams into the Philippine province of Eastern Samar on Friday, according to government forecasters.

The U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Hawaii said it was the strongest tropical cyclone in the world this year, although Cyclone Phailin, which hit eastern India on Oct. 12, had winds of up to 138 mph and stronger gusts.

Eduardo del Rosario, who heads the government's main disaster-response agency, said governors and mayors were supervising the evacuation of thousands of residents from landslide- and flood-prone communities in several provinces where the typhoon is expected to pass.

President Benigno Aquino III has ordered officials to aim for zero casualties, a goal often unmet in an archipelago lashed by about 20 storms each year, most of them deadly and destructive. Haiyan is the 24th such storm to hit the Philippines this year.

Aquino urged people to stay calm and avoid panic-buying of basic goods, and assured the public of war-like preparations: Three C-130 air force cargo planes and 32 military helicopters and planes were on standby, along with 20 navy ships.

"No typhoon can bring Filipinos to their knees if we'll be united," he said in a nationally televised address. 

Bohol Gov. Edgardo Chatto said soldiers, police and rescue units were helping displaced residents, including thousands still in small tents after the earthquake, to move to safer shelters. The typhoon was not forecast to directly hit Bohol, but the province was still expected to be battered by strong wind and rain, government forecaster Jori Loiz said.

Thousands of people in Bohol are still in shelters after their homes were destroyed in an Oct. 15 earthquake that killed more than 200 people.

Army troops were helping transport food packs and other relief goods in hard-to-reach communities and rescue helicopters are on stand-by, the military said.

"My worst fear is that the eye of this typhoon will hit us. I hope we will be spared," Chatto told The Associated Press by telephone.

Authorities grounded ferry services and called in fishing boats Thursday as the typhoon approached. The coast guard suspended ferry operations and ordered a halt to fishing, warning deep-sea fishing boats to seek shelter or return to port. Schools and some offices were shut down, and power and communication lines were expected to be switched off.

The state weather bureau raised storm alerts in coconut-growing areas Samar and Leyte. Officials in a dozen other central provinces also began stockpiling food, water and other relief supplies.

Officials used bullhorns to tell residents of coastal and upland villages to move to safer areas, while some people were tying their houses on stable posts. Trees were being trimmed and boats dragged onto shore.

In September, typhoon Usagi, also a Category 5 storm, battered the Philippines' northernmost island of Batanes before wreaking more damage in southern China.

An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year. In 2011, typhoon Washi killed 1,200 people, displaced 300,000 and destroyed more than 10,000 homes.

Bopha, the strongest storm to hit last year, flattened three coastal towns on the southern island of Mindanao, killing 1,100 people and destroying crops, property and infrastructure worth $1.04 billion. 

Al Jazeera and wire services