Super Typhoon Doksuri was packing maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour as it headed toward the northern tip of the main island of Luzon.

The storm, which is called "Egay" in the Philippines, was expected to make landfall or pass very close to the lightly populated Babuyan Islands or northeastern Cagayan province by Wednesday, the agency said in its latest bulletin at 3 a.m. GMT.

It would then move toward Taiwan and southeastern China.

Coastal communities in northwestern and northeastern Cagayan province had been ordered to evacuate their homes in anticipation of storm surges reaching, or even exceeding, 3 meters.

Three of the five Babuyan Islands are inhabited, with a population of around 20,000 people.

Local disaster official Charles Castillejos said people living near the shores of those islands had been ordered to go inland, while fishermen had been told to get their boats out of the water.

"We sent the police to convince the hard-headed ones who refuse to evacuate," Castillejos told AFP.

Science and technology secretary Renato Solidum said people needed to be prepared for the typhoon because "things happen fast".

"We need to remind our people the importance of readiness against storm surges, strong winds and also possible floods," Solidum told reporters.

Some farmers in the northern province of Isabela, bordering Cagayan, were seen leading their livestock to safety ahead of the storm.

"Those living on coastal areas have been moved to higher ground," Isabela provincial disaster officer Constante Foronda told local radio station DZBB.

"Our water search and rescue teams are now deployed in those areas most likely to be affected," Foronda said.

Flooding, landslides 'highly likely'

The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 major storms each year that kill hundreds of people and keep vast regions in perpetual poverty.

Scientists have warned that such storms, which also kill livestock and destroy key infrastructure, are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer because of climate change.

Boats, including wooden outriggers and passenger ferries that provide transportation between islands, have been ordered to shore in Luzon and central islands due to gale warnings, stranding more than 11,000 people, the Philippine Coast Guard said.

By midday Wednesday, the storm was expected to have dumped more than 200 millimeters of rain on the islands and the northern portion of Cagayan, including Babuyan Islands, as well as Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur provinces.

Heavy rain was also expected across the mountainous northern provinces in the coming days, with flooding and landslides "highly likely", the weather agency said.

Cagayan provincial disaster officer Ruelie Rapsing told DZBB that emergency food packs had been stored in warehouses.

"The province has been on red alert status since Saturday and all evacuation centers, emergency operation centers of each town, and incident management teams are activated," he said.

"Cagayanons are used to this."

Weather warnings

China urged fishing boats to seek shelter and farmers to speed up their harvest while Taiwan suspended annual military drills as the super typhoon spiraled closer to East Asia, potentially reaching deep into China.

Doksuri will likely be the most powerful typhoon to land in China so far in the storm season this year. China narrowly escaped from Typhoon Mawar, one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record for the month of May, which was headed for China but later swung north toward Japan before dissipating.

Doksuri will make landfall on the Chinese mainland somewhere between Fujian and Guangdong provinces on Friday, China's National Meteorological Center said on Tuesday.

While Doksuri is expected to lose some power and land as either a typhoon or severe typhoon, it will still hammer densely populated Chinese cities with torrential rain and strong winds.

Fujian has ordered all offshore fishing boats to find refuge at the nearest port by Wednesday noon and told farmers to harvest their rice and other crops that have matured.

Concerned about autumn grain crops, China's ministry of agriculture and rural affairs warned on Monday that Doksuri could go deep inland after landing, affecting high-stalk crops such as corn and even rice in rural areas.

After the storm has passed, plots without broken stalks should be straightened quickly and waterlogged fields should be drained in time, with fast-acting fertilizers applied to hasten the recovery of plants, the ministry said.

Some drills canceled

Taiwan canceled some of its annual military drills on Tuesday for safety reasons as authorities stepped up preparations for what they say could be the most damaging typhoon to hit the island in nearly four years.

It was not immediately clear how the typhoon could further impact the five-day "Han Kuang" exercise, set to take place throughout the island this week with a focus on defending the island's main international airport and how to keep sea lanes open in the event of a Chinese blockade.

Beijing has never renounced using force to bring the democratically governed island under its control. Taiwan rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims and has vowed to defend its freedom and democracy.

Taiwan's weather bureau issued sea and land warnings for southern Pingtun county and urged communities to brace for heavy rains and strong winds.

In the southern port city of Kaohsiung, authorities were rushing to collect hundreds of containers drifting in the sea after container ship Angel sank off Taiwan's southwestern coast last week.

"Taiwan has not seen any typhoon making landfall in more than 1,400 days, and that's why I urge all government ministries that they must gear up and make preparations," Premier Chen Chien-jen said in a post on Facebook.

"I'd like to remind citizens not to underestimate typhoon threats."