700,000 flee as powerful typhoon slams Philippines

More than 700,000 people in the central Philippines fled to safer areas for fear of giant waves, floods or landslides as Typhoon Melor slammed into the archipelago nation Monday, officials said. The typhoon brushed the northern tip of Samar, a farming island of 1.5 million people, early Monday with winds gusting up to 185 kilometres (115 miles) per hour, the state weather bureau said. Samar was among areas devastated in 2013 by Typhoon Haiyan, when giant waves wiped out entire communities and le