Super Typhoon Noru has slammed into the Philippines, battering the heavily populated main island of Luzon with strong winds and heavy rain that have forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
The storm was packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 125mph (195km/h) after an unprecedented “explosive intensification”, the state weather forecaster said.
Noru, the strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year, made landfall in Burdeos municipality on the Polillo islands, part of Quezon province, at 5.30pm local time.
Videos posted on social media showed trees swaying wildly as wind and rain whipped across the islands.
“We ask residents living in danger zones to adhere to calls for evacuation whenever necessary,” the Philippine national police chief, Gen Rodolfo Azurin, said before it hit.
Incredible storm surge in Polillo, Quezon, Philippines which was hit by the eyewall of #KardingPH / #Noru.pic.twitter.com/TiSH4di3br
— Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) September 25, 2022
The Philippines is regularly ravaged by storms, and scientists say they are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer because of the climate crisis. Noru comes nine months after another super typhoon devastated swathes of the country, killing more than 400 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.
Residents in several municipalities in Quezon province were being evacuated from their homes, said Mel Avenilla from the provincial disaster office.
Helen Tan, the governor of Quezon province, told local radio: “I asked our mayors to comply with strict preemptive evacuations.” She said fishers in coastal communities were barred from heading to sea.
In the neighbouring province of Aurora, residents of Dingalan municipality were being forced to seek shelter.
Noru is expected to weaken to a typhoon as it sweeps across central Luzon before entering the South China Sea on Monday, heading towards Vietnam.
The weather bureau warned of dangerous storm surges, widespread flooding and landslides as the storm dumps heavy rain. It could damage farmlands in the heavily agricultural region, as well as inundate villages.
The Philippines, ranked among the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of the climate crisis, is hit by an average of 20 storms a year.
Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report
