DPA/Manila

Dozens of makeshift houses near a seawall were torn apart, while toppled electric posts hung precariously on dangling wires. 

Some streets were flooded but weary residents waded through the murky water, eager to get to their homes. 

“The roof and walls are gone,” a man identified as Bennie told a local radio station as he reached the bunkhouse where he and his family lived. 

“We’ll probably just have to put up tents here,” he said. 

Bennie said he and his family re-located to a public school two days before Hagupit slammed into the Philippines’ eastern coast on Saturday evening. 

More than 47,000 people fled their homes in Tacloban, which is still recovering from the devastation of last year’s super typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda. 

Haiyan triggered storm surges as high as 10 metres when it hit the Philippines on November 8, 2013. It left more than 7,300 dead or missing and displaced over 4mn. 

Shirly Abud, an 18-year-old mother of a toddler, said they were unable to sleep Saturday night as howling winds and heavy rains battered Tacloban for hours. 

“The wind was so noisy and we kept hearing crashing sounds,” she said from an evacuation centre in Tacloban.

“The rain was also very strong and you couldn’t see anything outside.” 

Abud said their house was destroyed again by Hagupit, which is called Ruby in the Philippines. 

“My father went out to check it and it’s gone,” she said. “We were only starting to get back on our feet after Yolanda, but Ruby has brought us back to zero.” 

Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez said the city of 200,000 people was better prepared this time around. 

“Three days before the typhoon, we already suspended school classes and began to evacuate people,” he said. “We also received augmentation from police and the military.” 

“We didn’t wait for a storm signal warning to be raised this time,” he said.

“That made things easier to manage.” 

Tacloban’s airport, thousands of houses and even commercial buildings were destroyed by last year’s storm.

Debris and dead bodies blocked roads, making them impassable.  Hours after Hagupit, public transport was back in operation in central Tacloban. 

In the three provinces of Samar Island, electricity was cut off due to Hagupit’s strong winds, while some streets were not passable due to fallen trees, landslides and debris. 

Brown floodwater reached chest-high in Borongan City, the capital of Eastern Samar province, where the typhoon made landfall in the nearby coastal town of Dolores. 

Trees smashed into houses, electric posts were toppled and rooftops were ripped off in Borongan.

 Authorities have not yet reached Dolores because of the blocked roads. 

“We are worried because we haven’t been able to talk to our people on the ground,” Philippine Red Cross secretary general Gwendolyn Pang said.

In Albay province, north of Samar Island, warning sirens blared in Legazpi City. A sheet of rain blanketed the provincial capital as trees swayed wildly. 

Many stores were boarded up and the streets were deserted.  Samar province Governor Sharee Ann Tan said most reports she has received so far were about physical damages.