Thousands flee ahead of typhoon

A POWERFUL typhoon is barrelling towards the Philippines, prompting nearly 8000 people to leave their homes in coastal and low-lying areas.

Officials said on Monday Typhoon Bopha, packing winds of up to 210 kilometres an hour, was expected to hit the east coast of the major southern island of Mindanao overnight.

It is the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year.

President Benigno Aquino said in a meeting with the heads of emergency services broadcast on television the area is expected to be hit between 4am and 6am (local time) on Tuesday.

"(Bopha's) destructive potential is no laughing matter. It is expected to be the strongest typhoon to hit our country in 2012. This would bring intense rainfall," he said.

He urged Filipinos potentially in harm's way to heed official warnings and monitor the government's hourly bulletins on the internet and other available means.

The centre of the typhoon was expected to hit the Mindanao coastal town of Hinatuan and nearby areas, said Blanche Gobenciong, regional director of the civil defence office in the area.

A total of 7885 Hinatuan residents have been moved to government shelters ahead of the arrival of the typhoon, she told reporters in a conference call.

Schools have been shut along Mindanao's east coast, while sea travel was banned for the time being, Gobenciong added.

Rescue officials said those living along the coast, flood-prone river valleys, as well as tiny islands off Hinatuan were most at risk.

As of 1000 GMT (2100 AEDT) the eye of the typhoon was 340km southeast of Hinatuan, the state weather service said.

After Hinatuan, it was expected to sweep northwest across the central islands.

Aquino said authorities have been stockpiling food supplies and rescue equipment, with military and coast guard personnel deployed in vulnerable areas amid fears the typhoon could trigger landslides and floods.

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