Frontman Ryan Tedder revealed to morning show Today that the band performed in the Philippines the night before the typhoon hit the country.
He said: “We were just in Southeast Asia, we played the Philippines… and that night the promoter came back, right before the show, and said, ‘Guys, there’s a typhoon coming in tomorrow. In theory, it’s going to be the biggest typhoon that has ever hit the Philippines, so get to the airport early, we got to get you out of here..’ So we missed it by about three or four hours.”
Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Asian nation on November 8, claiming thousands of lives and leaving many residents homeless.
Earlier this week, Rihanna donated $100,000 to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for the victims of the typhoon.
One Direction were among the celebrities who took part in the DEC Telethon on November 18 to help raise funds.