Destruction ... a man is seen on top of his damaged house in Tacloban, central Philippines. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

While the worst was over in central island provinces, where the sun peeked Monday after days of stormy weather, the bustling capital, Manila, and outlying provinces braced as Hagupit blew nearer with maximum sustained winds of 105 kilometers (65 miles) per hour and gusts of 135 kph (84 mph).

Demolished...Destroyed houses and trees with a slogan calling for help are seen along a road in the village of Mantang, Taft town Eastern samar province central Philippines. Picture: AFP/Vincent Go Source: AFP

Destroyed...Many houses were destroyed at the height of typhoon Hagupit in Borongan City, eastern samar province central Philippines. Picture: AFP/Vincent Go Source: AFP

Forecasters said the storm was expected to slam into a Batangas provincial town about 110 kilometers (68 miles) south of Manila by nightfall. Although considerably weaker from its peak power, the storm remains potentially dangerous and could still whip storm surges that could overwhelm coastal villages, they said.

Hagupit (pronounced HA’-goo-pit), which made landfall in Eastern Samar late Saturday, was moving slowly at 10 kph (6 mph) and could dump heavy rain that could possibly trigger landslides and flash floods, according to forecasters.

Helping hand...Military personnel along with public works employees clear a fallen tree blocking a section of national highway in Taft town, Eastern samar province central Philippines. Picture: AFP/Vincent Go Source: AFP

Traumatized by the death and destruction from Typhoon Haiyan last year, more than 1 million people fled to emergency shelters and safer grounds. Many have started to troop back home after the typhoon had blown past their provinces, Philippine Red Cross Secretary-General Gwendolyn Pang said.

“The worst is over for them. It’s a big relief because they really got scared of this typhoon with Haiyan in their minds,” Pang said. “And there are still areas bracing for the storm like Manila.”

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said more than 5,000 residents of a shantytown on the edge of Manila Bay have been evacuated due to possible storm surges.

Helping hand ... volunteers repack relief goods for victims of Typhoon Hagupit at the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Manila. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

“We’ve prepared and trained for this,” Estrada told The Associated Press, adding his greatest fear was widespread flooding. Metropolitan Manila has a population of more than 12 million people.

Like villagers in the central Philippines, Estrada said Manila residents were readily moving to safety because of haunting memories of Haiyan.

The strongest typhoon on record to hit land, Haiyan’s tsunami-like storm surges, leveled entire villages and left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in November last year.

Blackout ... tesidents walk in the dark during a power outage after strong winds from Typhoon Hagupit toppled some electrical posts. Picture: AP Source: AP

Hagupit left at least 21 people dead, including 16 villagers who separately drowned in Eastern Samar province, where the typhoon made its first landfall, according to the Philippine Red Cross. The government disaster-response agency has reported only five deaths, including three people who died of hypothermia, saying it was still verifying other reported casualties.

Displaced villagers have been asked to return home from emergency shelters in provinces where the danger posed by the typhoon had waned, including Albay, where more than half a million people were advised to leave evacuation sites.

Prepared. a boy plays next to a seawall in a shanty town at the port area in Manila ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Hagupit. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Nearly 12,000 villagers, however, will remain in government shelters in Albay because their homes lie near a restive volcano.

While officials expressed relief that the typhoon had not caused major damage, they warned that Hagupit was still on course to barrel into the southern tip of the main northern Luzon island, where Manila is located, before starting to blow away Tuesday into the South China Sea.

Menace of climate change

The Philippines endures about 20 major storms a year which, along with regular earthquakes and volcano eruptions, make it one of the world’s most disaster-plagued countries.

The storms regularly claim many lives and are becoming more violent and unpredictable because of climate change, according to the United Nations and many scientists.

Protective ... a mother watches her baby inside a mosquito net at an evacuation centre in Manila on December 7, ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Hagupit. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

At global climate talks in Peru, Filipino activists said the frequency of typhoons had settled any debate in the Philippines about whether man-made global warming exists.

“In the hour of our peril, now is the time for politicians to back up their expressions of solidarity with real action at the UN climate talks,” said Jasper Inventor of Greenpeace.

“It has become an issue of our survival.”

Shanties ... wcavengers paddle towards shanty homes at the port area in Manila, ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Hagupit. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Haiyan was the world’s deadliest natural disaster last year, and Hagiput crucially had no repeat of the storm surges that did the most damage during the super typhoon.

In 2011 and 2012, there were consecutive December storms in the Philippines that together claimed more than 3000 lives and were the world’s deadliest natural disasters of those years.