© EPA
A handout photograph provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Typhoon Noul over the West Pacific, east of the Philippines on May 6, 2015. The Philippines is preparing to evacuate residents along its northeastern coast as a typhoon approaches, as well as those near a rumbling volcano that has been spewing steam and ash over a central province, officials said on Friday
The Philippines is preparing to evacuate residents along its northeastern coast
as a typhoon approaches, as well as those near a rumbling volcano that has been spewing steam and ash over a central province, officials said on Friday.
Typhoon Noul was about 480 km (300 miles) northeast of the town of Borongan in Eastern Samar province early on Friday, with wind gusts of up to 185 km per hour (115 mph), and was expected to make landfall as a category four storm at the weekend.
Thousands of passengers have already been stranded in seaports along the central and eastern Philippines after authorities stopped vessels from sailing because of rough seas.
The typhoon, the fourth to hit the Southeast Asian country this year, was expected to bring heavy to intense rainfall when it makes landfall in the northeast, the weather bureau said. It was then expected to weaken as it swung northeast towards the Japanese island of Okinawa by Tuesday.
Officials warned that heavy rain from the typhoon could cause "lahar", or flows of mud and debris, around Mount Bulusan, a volcano that has been spewing ash this week.
Comment: See also: Bulusan volcano in Philippines explodes, ejecting steam and ash