Thousands of people evacuated coastal communities in the eastern Philippines Thursday as the country braced for what was expected to be the worst typhoon to hit this year, dpa reported. School classes were suspended while some offices closed early in provinces expected to bear the brunt of Typhoon Haiyan, according to the regional civil defence office. "Pre-emptive evacuation has been implemented in a number of the high-risk areas in the provinces of Leyte and Southern Leyte," said the head of the regional civil defence office, Rey Gozon. "Evacuation centres have also been identified for the other areas expected to be affected by the typhoon," he added. Gozon said at least 500 families, or about 2,500 residents, had evacuated their homes near the city of Tacloban in Leyte and the town of San Francisco in Southern Leyte. Haiyan was packing maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometres per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 250 kph as it neared the Philippines, the weather bureau said.
