Typhoon Hagupit slammed into the central Philippines' east coast late Saturday, knocking out power and toppling trees in a region where 650,000 people have fled to safety, still haunted by the massive death and destruction wrought by a monster storm last year, the ABC News reported Saturday.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour and gusts of 210 kph, Hagupit made landfall in Dolores, a coastal town facing the Pacific in Eastern Samar province, according to the country's weather agency.
Army troops deployed to supermarkets and major roads in provinces in the typhoon's path to prevent looting and chaos and clear debris, all of which slowed the government's response last year.