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Powerful Typhoon Kalmaegi hits northern Philippines
Typhoon Kalmaegi slammed into the northern Philippines on Sunday, causing flash floods and widespread heavy rains as communities braced for landslides and possible storm surges
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yphoon Kalmaegi slammed into the northern Philippines on Sunday, causing flash floods and widespread heavy rains as communities braced for landslides and possible storm surges.
The typhoon, packing winds of 160 kilometres (100 miles) per hour, struck the town of Divilacan on the northeastern coast around sundown and moved westward across the main island of Luzon, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.
"There has been flooding on the (island) of Mindoro," located south of the area passed over by the typhoon, council spokeswoman Mina Marasigan said.
Although the storm is only directly affecting the northern provinces, it is reinforcing monsoon rains elsewhere in the country.
A ferry carrying more than 100 people hit by huge waves in the archipelago's central waters sank late Saturday as the typhoon approached, killing three and leaving three missing.
There had been no reports of casualties since the typhoon made landfall, Marasigan said, though sea travel in typhoon-affected areas and even airline flights were cancelled as precautionary measures as Kalmagei approached.
Civil defence officials had previously ordered pre-emptive evacuations in at least three towns in the typhoon's path with residents in coastal areas warned of possible storm surges two metres (6.5 feet) tall.
Such storm surges -- tsunami-like walls of water driven inland by wind from the sea -- were blamed for leaving nearly 8,000 dead or missing when Super Typhoon Haiyan devastated large parts of the country last year.
At the time, even people who had taken refuge in government evacuation centres drowned as the rushing water caught them unawares.
As of 9:00 pm (1300 GMT) Sunday, the storm was over the mountain town of Kabugao, 380 kilometres north of the capital, Manila, and moving northwest towards the South China Sea, said government meteorologist Buddy Javier.
The storm was expected to have passed over the country by dawn on Monday, he said.
The Philippines is hit by about 20 storms or typhoons each year. Typhoon Rammasun killed 98 people and left five others missing in provinces around Manila in July. (***)
