Manila: At least 25 people have been killed in the northern Philippines after a typhoon lashed the mountainous region, triggering heavy rains, floods and landslides. Hundreds of thousands of people in several villages in the area have been evacuated. Winds of 120 to 160 kilometers per hour (km/h) hit Agno town in Pangasinan province overnight, causing landslides in several places. The storm, which has intensified into a typhoon and is moving northeast, was packing winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour (km/h) this morning.
The country has been lashed by heavy rains for a week. Disaster relief officials say at least 25 people have died, mostly due to flash floods, fallen trees, landslides and electrocution. Eight people are still missing.
The government closed schools in Manila for a third day today and suspended classes in 35 provinces in the main northern region of Luzon. At least 77 towns and cities have declared a state of calamity,
The weather has forced 278,000 people to evacuate their homes for safety. They have been advised to seek emergency shelter or stay with relatives.
About 3,000 homes have been damaged, the government's disaster response agency said. Sea and air travel has been restricted in the northern provinces.
Thousands of military troops, police, coast guard personnel, firefighters and civilian volunteers have been deployed to rescue people in villages that are flooded or have roads damaged by landslides, trees and rocks.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who returned from the United States, visited emergency shelters in Rizal province and helped distribute food packs to displaced residents. He then held an emergency meeting with disaster-response officials.