Typhoon Yinxing has made landfall on the north-east tip of the Philippines, uprooting trees and sending building materials flying, just weeks after another storm left at least 150 people dead.
The storm is the 13th to batter the disaster-prone South-east Asian archipelago this year.
More than 21,000 people across 200 villages in the Cagayan province were evacuated in the hours before the mid-afternoon landfall, provincial disaster official Rueli Rapsing said.
“There is debris flying all around. Here in Gonzaga, an entire hamburger stand flew off and the winds are ripping open the shop doors at the public market,” Mr Rapsing said.
Yinxing is the third storm in less than a month to threaten the Philippines after Severe Tropical Storm Trami and Super Typhoon Kong-rey together left 158 people dead, the national disaster agency said, with most of those deaths attributed to Trami.
Mr Rapsing said Typhoon Yinxing had uprooted trees and there were reports that the Santa Ana police station had been damaged. No casualties have been reported.
Provincial rescue officials are closely monitoring possible landslides, floods and swelling of rivers in the province, with storm surges also a concern in Ilocos Norte and Cagayan.
The Philippines is still recovering from a series of recent powerful storms which have caused widespread destruction and more than 150 deaths. (AP: LGU Lal-lo)
Disaster officials in the mountainous province of Apayao said almost 500 people have been evacuated.
“We really prioritised pre-emptive evacuations because we want to have zero deaths here in Apayao,” provincial disaster official Aldrin Agmata said.
The state weather service said Yinxing would scrape past the north coast of the main island of Luzon overnight Thursday before moving into the South China Sea on Friday.
School has been suspended in many areas of the north and President Ferdinand Marcos has put all government agencies on high alert.
“Remember, every life is important so we should always be prepared,” Mr Marcos said in a statement.
The death and destruction from recent storms in the Philippines prompted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to declare a day of national mourning on Monday when he visited the worst-hit province of Batangas, where at least 61 people died.
AFP/AP
