At least three people have been killed and thousands have been evacuated from villages and schools in Northern Philippines, while offices were closed, as one of this year’s strongest typhoons threatened to cause flooding and landslides on its way to southeastern China.
Super Typhoon Ragasa had sustained winds of 215 kilometres per hour (134 miles per hour), with gusts of up to 295km/h (183mph), when it slammed into Panuitan Island off Cagayan province in the mid-afternoon on Monday, Philippine forecasters said.
Tropical cyclones with sustained winds of 185km/h (115mph) or higher are categorised in the Philippines as a super typhoon – a designation adopted years ago to underscore the urgency tied to such extreme weather disturbances.
As of 8:00 pm (12:00 GMT), the storm was generating maximum sustained winds of 215km/h (134 mph) near its centre, with gusts of up to 265km/h (165mph), the national weather service said.
On Calayan Island, at the storm’s centre, information officer Herbert Singun told the AFP news agency that chunks of a school roof had been ripped off and landed on an evacuation centre about 30 metres away (100 feet), causing one minor injury.
Just move than 10,000 Filipinos were evacuated across the country, with schools and government offices closed on Monday in the Manila region and across 29 other provinces.
The Philippines is the first major landmass facing the Pacific cyclone belt, and the archipelago is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, putting millions of people in disaster-prone areas in a state of constant poverty.
Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful as the world warms due to the effects of human-driven climate change.