Typhoon Hagupit in the Philippines

Typhoon Hagupit (known locally as Ruby) made landfall in the Philippines on 6 December.

On landfall in the eastern Philippines, the storm was Category Three and left 21 people dead. It has been estimated that almost a million people were affected by Hagupit.

In the days before the storm made landfall, Hagupit had strengthened to a Category Five storm, the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson scale, but weakened to Category Three shortly before it hit the Philippines. In November last year, the Category Five Typhoon Haiyan had a devastating effect on the Philippines, leaving over seven thousand dead, millions homeless, and a great deal of destruction. The archipelago was still recovering from this disaster when Hagupit struck.

Due to fears over the threat posed by the typhoon, hundreds of thousands of people evacuated in the days before Hagupit arrived. They took refuge in emergency shelters set up by the government, or moved to safer locations during the storm. This early evacuation, in combination with Hagupit's weaker than expected strength, has been given credit for saving many lives.

After landfall Hagupit moved slowly in a north-west direction, passing over the northern part of the Philippines over a period of two days. The storm has been causing heavy rain and bringing strong winds to the islands, which has caused major damage to homes in the eastern part of the Philippines, and resulted in flooding. Reports indicate that nearly 20,000 tonnes of rice crops have been destroyed by the storm, which has prompted the Philippines to look for supplies elsewhere to ensure there is an adequate supply in 2015.

Analysis of the damage lists 38 thousands homes were destroyed by Hagupit and the typhoon affected almost four million people.