Typhoon Hagupit is sweeping across the Philippines, toppling trees and power lines and threatening areas with heavy rain, flooding and mudslides.
About a million people have fled their homes for shelter. The storm has killed at least three people, officials said.
In Tacloban, where thousands were killed by Typhoon Haiyan last year, roofs have been blown away and streets are flooded, the BBC reported.
READ about the rebuild in Tacloban before Typhoon Hagupit struck.
But Hagupit did not appear to have been as severe as many had feared.
Hagupit, known locally as Ruby, weakened yesterday as it continued to move slowly across the Philippines.
Typhoon Hagupit pounds Philippines with torrential rain. Potential dangers: storm surge, flooding and landslides.http://t.co/8UShDvmtVY
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) December 7, 2014
It was packing maximum sustained winds of 140km/h and gusts of 170km/h at 5pmlocal time, government forecaster Pagasa said.
The BBC's Jonathan Head in Legazpi, about 200km north of Tacloban, said Hagupit was clearly a powerful storm but nowhere near as powerful as Haiyan.
