Super Typhoon Noru heads toward the Philippines with evacuations underway

Authorities in the Philippines have evacuated towns on the main island of Luzon as Super Typhoon Noru made landfall on Sunday afternoon, local time.

Noru is the strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year with gusts of up to 195 km/h (121 mph).

The storm made landfall on Polilo Island, 90 kilometers (almost 50 miles) north of the capital, Manila, which is home to 13 million people. Authorities have warned of potential flash floods, landslides and tidal surges.

"We ask residents living in danger zones to adhere to calls for evacuation whenever necessary," Philippine National Police chief General Rodolfo Azurin said.

Residents seek shelter

Residents in certain municipalities along the eastern seaboard have evacuated their homes and sought shelter as the storm nears. Ferries and fishing boats have also been barred from leaving port.

On Monday, schools in Manila and surrounding areas will be closed and non-essential services will be suspended.

"I asked our mayors to comply with strict preemptive evacuations," Helen Tan, governor of the neighboring Quezon province, told the DZRH radio station.

The Philippine Coast Guard said more than 2,000 passengers have been left stranded by ferry cancellations due to the storm.

'A good recipe for explosive intensification'

Noru comes nine months after another super typhoon devastated swaths of the country, killing more than 400 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

Robb Gile, a forecaster at the state weather bureau PAGASA, said Noru's rapid intensification as it neared land was "unprecedented."

"Typhoons are like engines — you need a fuel and an exhaust to function," Gile said.

"In the case of [Noru], it has a good fuel because it has plenty of warm waters along its track and then there is a good exhaust in the upper level of the atmosphere — so it's a good recipe for explosive intensification."