http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/06/world/philippines-braces-for-arrival-of-typhoon-hagupit.html 2014-12-05 10:11:10 Philippines Braces for Arrival of Typhoon Hagupit Some areas that were devastated by Typhoon Haiyan last year were preparing Friday for another powerful storm, though it was not expected to have Haiyan’s destructive power. === HONG KONG — Parts of the On Friday morning, Hagupit was 250 miles off the Philippines, headed west with maximum sustained winds reaching 130 miles per hour, according to Forecasts differed on what path the typhoon would take after that. But agencies agreed that the storm had weakened. The United States center on Friday stopped classifying Hagupit as a “super typhoon,” while the On Friday, President Benigno S. Aquino III criticized some local news media outlets for reporting that the incoming storm would be comparable to Typhoon Haiyan, or Yolanda, as it was called in the Philippines. Manila and the cities around it are densely populated, and their poor infrastructure means that even modest storms can trigger dangerous flooding. To the south, the region still recovering from Typhoon Haiyan was preparing for the arrival of another powerful storm. “Everyone, everybody from the people to the local government to the national government, is not taking chances. They’re fully mobilizing to prepare before it arrives,” said Bradley Mellicker, an “I’ve heard from areas that weren’t directly hit by Haiyan last year, and they’re taking this very seriously, probably more seriously than had Haiyan not hit last year,” he said. Typhoon Haiyan killed more than 7,300 people when it struck the country in November 2013. The regional capital of Tacloban was particularly devastated as storm surges as high as 17 feet burst across low-lying areas of the city of 220,000 people. “Of course we are watching this storm very, very closely,” said Praveen Agrawal, the Philippines country representative for the Residents of Tacloban have shown great caution in the days leading up to the storm’s arrival, said the city’s vice mayor, Jerry Yaokasin. “Finally, Taclobanons have become more conscious and aware of the possible impact of Typhoon Hagupit,” he wrote Friday on