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It was expected to blow westward and batter central island provinces, including , which is still recovering from a 6.9-magnitude earthquake on Sept. 30 that left at least 79 dead and displaced thousands of people when houses collapsed or were severely damaged.

Displaced residents staying in flimsy tents would be moved to sturdier shelters, the Office of Civil Defense said.

On central Negros island, villagers were warned that heavy rains could cause volcanic mudflows on , which has been emitting plumes of ash and steam in recent months, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

Kalmaegi, locally named Tino, was forecast to further strengthen over the Philippine Sea before possibly making landfall in Guiuan town or nearby municipalities.

, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones on record, slammed ashore into Guiuan in November 2013 and raked across the central Philippines, leaving more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattening entire villages and sweeping scores of ships inland. Haiyan demolished about a million houses and displaced more than 4 million people in one of the country’s poorest regions.

“Nobody’s complaining among the residents because of their experience with Yolanda. They know it’s better to be safe than sorry,� Eastern Samar Gov. RV Evardone told The Associated Press, referring to Haiyan’s Philippine name.

Nearly 156,000 people had been evacuated by nightfall in eastern and southern provinces, including in Dinagat Islands province south of Eastern Samar, Office of Civil Defense Administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said. Disaster response agencies, including coast guard search and rescue units, have been put on alert.

Inter-island ferries and fishing boats were prohibited from venturing into increasingly rough seas, stranding more than 3,500 passengers and cargo truck drivers in nearly 100 seaports, the coast guard said. A number of domestic flights were cancelled.

The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons and storms each year. It is often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen , making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.