typhoon

Heavy flooding in Talisay City, Cebu has destroyed homes after Typhoon Kalmaegi dumped a month’s worth of rain. One person died in a low-income area that evacuated early, while dozens may be trapped in a nearby subdivision where residents did not leave. Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Lo is there.

Aerial footage from the Philippines shows the destruction wrought on homes and streets by Typhoon Kalmaegi.

It was one of the strongest typhoons in the Philippines this year.

At least 85 people have died in the flooding and another 75 are missing. The floodwaters swept shipping containers through the streets and cars have been left in piles.

Residents say the powerful storm brought ‘raging’ flash floods that destroyed homes, overturned cars and blocked streets.

Residents of the central Philippines have slowly begun cleanup efforts after powerful Typhoon Kalmaegi swept through the region, killing at least 85 people and leaving dozens missing.

Scenes of widescale destruction emerged in the hard-hit province of Cebu on Wednesday as the storm receded, revealing ravaged homes, overturned vehicles and streets blocked with piles of debris.

Among the 85 deaths were six military personnel whose helicopter crashed in Agusan del Sur on the island of Mindanao during a humanitarian mission. The country’s disaster agency also reported 75 people missing, and 17 injured.

In Cebu City, Marlon Enriquez, 58, was trying to salvage what was left of his family’s belongings as he scraped off the thick mud coating his house.

“This was the first time that has happened to us,” he told the Reuters news agency. “I’ve been living here for almost 16 years, and it was the first time I’ve experienced flooding [like this].”

Another resident, 53-year-old Reynaldo Vergara, said his small shop in the city of Mandaue, also in Cebu province, had been lost when a nearby river overflowed.

“Around four or five in the morning, the water was so strong that you couldn’t even step outside,” he told the AFP news agency. “Nothing like this has ever happened. The water was raging.”

The storm hit as Cebu province was still recovering from a 6.9-magnitude earthquake last month that killed dozens of people and displaced thousands.

The area around Cebu City was deluged with 183mm (seven inches) of rain in the 24 hours before Kalmaegi’s landfall, well over its 131mm (five-inch) monthly average, according to weather specialist Charmagne Varilla.

The massive rainfall set off flash floods and caused a river and other waterways to swell. More than 200,000 people were evacuated across the wider Visayas region, which includes Cebu Island and parts of southern Luzon and northern Mindanao.

Before noon on Wednesday, Kalmaegi blew away from western Palawan province into the South China Sea with sustained winds of up to 130km per hour (81 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 180km/h (112mph), according to forecasters.

The storm is forecast to gain strength while over the South China Sea before making its way to Vietnam, where preparations are under way in advance of Kalmaegi’s expected landfall on Friday.

China has warned of a “catastrophic wave process” in the South China Sea and activated maritime disaster emergency response in its southernmost province of Hainan, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Cars and shipping containers were washed away by floods caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi in the Philippines, where thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate their homes.

More than 70,000 people ordered to leave their homes as forecasters warn of torrential rains, strong winds and storm surges.

Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate from coastal areas in the eastern Philippines before Typhoon Kalmaegi’s expected landfall.

Forecasters have warned of torrential rains, storm surges of up to 3 metres (10ft) and wind gusts of up to 150km/h (93mph) as the centre of the storm was expected to come ashore on Monday.

More than 70,000 people in the coastal towns of Guiuan and Salcedo on Samar Island and Mercedes in Camarines Norte province were ordered to move to evacuation centres or buildings certified as sturdy enough to withstand the impact of the typhoon. Authorities also prohibited fishermen from venturing out to sea in the east-central region.

The storm is predicted to make landfall in either Guiuan or nearby municipalities.

Guiuan is no stranger to typhoons. It was badly hit in November 2013 when one of the most powerful tropical cyclones on record smashed into the Philippines. The storm left more than 7,300 people dead or missing and displaced over four million people.

Human-driven climate change

Kalmaegi is forecast to travel westwards overnight before hitting central island provinces on Tuesday. This includes Cebu, which is still recovering from a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in September.

The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons and storms annually, and scientists are warning that they are becoming more powerful due to human-driven climate change.

The archipelago was hit by two major storms in September, including Super Typhoon Ragasa, which toppled trees, tore the roofs off buildings and killed 14 people in neighbouring Taiwan.

The Philippines is also regularly shaken by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.

A house was filmed floating away off Alaska’s coast after Typhoon Halong made landfall over the weekend, killing one person and leaving two missing. More than 1,300 people have been displaced by the storm, with residents saying they witnessed around 20 homes floating out to sea.

At least three people have died and several are missing after torrential rain from Typhoon Matmo caused widespread flooding across northern Vietnam.

Oct. 3 (UPI) — Typhoon Matmo struck northern Philippines on Friday, three days after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit the central part of the Asian nation hundreds of miles away and weeks after two other cyclones hit the country.

Matmo, which is locally named Paolo, had maximum sustained winds of 81 mph with the eye at San Guillermo in Isabela Province, the national weather agency Pagasa said.

Pagasa warned of “lightly stronger/enhanced in coastal and upland/mountainous areas exposed to winds. Winds are less strong in areas sheltered from the prevailing wind direction.” Also, rough seas are forecast.

More than 8 inches of rain are predicted on Isabela, Aurora and Quirino provinces.

Because of the storm, government agencies and schools were closed in the northern provinces’ main Luzon island, GMA News reported. Also, more than a dozen domestic flights were canceled, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

After crossing Luzon, Matmo is forecast to re-emerge into the South China Sea and will strengthen because of warm ocean waters and weak cross-winds, according to the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

A second landfall is expected in southern China’s Leizhu Province, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.

Caritas Philippines is providing relief to victims of Matmo and the earthquake.

“We are constantly faced with various risks and disasters, but it is through fraternal cooperation and unity among our dioceses that we find strength,” Jeanie, the humanitarian head of the organization, said. Together, we continue our humanitarian mission — to save lives, reduce suffering, and uphold the dignity of every human person.”

Caritas noted in Masbate and Romblon, homes, schools, parish buildings and infrastructure were badly damaged. Electricity, water supply and telecoms remain down in many areas with slow road access.

“Displaced families are facing increasing challenges as daily life becomes more difficult,” the nonprofit said. “Across affected areas, people are living in makeshift conditions, unable to return safely to their homes, and are struggling with disrupted livelihoods and a lack of basic hygiene. The uncertainty of recovery continues to weigh heavily on communities.”

The Philippines has been struck by 16 cyclones this year.

Typhoon Bualoi hit the Philippines on Sept. 25. Bualoi caused at least 37 deaths and displaced thousands in the Philippines before hitting Vietnam, where 49 people died.

Three days earlier, Super Typhoon Ragasa, which at one time was the world’s strongest tropical cyclone of the year, struck the Philippines before landfall in southern China.

The Philippines are struck by 20 cyclones each year, Bloomberg News reported. In 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan killed more than 6,000 people in the Philippines.

The earthquake affected a different part of the nation where more than 80,000 families affected out of about 366,000 people. Some families are “sleeping outside in unsafe conditions,” Caritas said.

“I still couldn’t process what has happened to us,” Arguel Estalicas told the BBC outside her home in Medellin, near the quake’s epicenter, where she slept with her family. “I am overwhelmed with the things we experienced in the last two days.”

Search and rescue are continuing.

Analysts have criticized officials for poor disaster management, though the geographical location makes it vulnerable to extreme natural hazards.

“We are in the Pacific Ring of Fire, and we’re exposed to earthquake hazards,” Mahar Lagmay, a geologist from the University of the Philippines and the executive director of Project NOAH, a disaster risk reduction, told the South China Morning Post. “That’s something we should take advantage of … the earthquake per se does not kill.”

He added: “We should be looking at all of the hazards together … we should prepare and anticipate for the worst-case events, including climate change scenarios that are bigger than what we have experienced.”

He advocates creating maps documenting disasters.

“Our ancestors and we have been surviving in this area for quite some time,” Ven Paolo Valenzuela, a research fellow at Singapore Management University’s College of Integrative Studies who is an expert in climate change, told the the South China Morning Post. “These are not new risks.”

The United Nations estimates every $1 invested in disaster prevention would lead to $7 to $8 saved in disaster response. Valenzuela asked if the Philippines has “been investing in that dollar. And once a disaster strikes, how sure are we that the $8 is actually going towards proper response and building back better?”

There has been an ongoing flood-control scandal of allegations of corruption, ghost projects and substandard infrastructure.

A typhoon that ripped roofs from homes has killed dozens of people across Vietnam and the Philippines, officials from both countries said, as a weakened Storm Bualoi crossed into neighbouring Laos.

The typhoon battered small islands in central Philippines last week, toppling trees and power pylons, unleashing floods, and forcing 400,000 people to evacuate. A Philippine civil defence official on Monday said the death toll there had more than doubled to 27, with most victims either drowning or being struck by debris.

Scientists warn that storms are becoming increasingly powerful as the planet warms due to human-induced climate change.

In Vietnam, Bualoi made landfall as a typhoon late on Sunday, generating winds of up to 130 kilometres per hour (80 miles per hour). At least 13 people were killed, while a search is ongoing for 20 others, disaster authorities stated in an online update.

More than 44,200 houses were damaged, including many with roofs torn off, predominantly in the central province of Ha Tinh. At least 800 homes were flooded and nearly 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) of crops were inundated, according to the update.

At least nine people died when a typhoon-related whirlwind swept through the northern Vietnamese province of Ninh Binh early on Monday, according to the local disaster agency. One person was killed in the province of Hue and another in Thanh Hoa, with about 20 people reported missing by local and national disaster authorities.

More than 53,000 people were evacuated to schools and medical centres converted into temporary shelters before Bualoi made landfall in Vietnam, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said.

Four domestic airports, as well as parts of the national highway, were closed on Monday. More than 180 flights were cancelled or delayed, according to airport authorities. Parts of Nghe An and the steel-producing central province of Ha Tinh were without power, and schools were closed in affected regions.

Since making landfall in Vietnam, Bualoi has weakened as it moved across the border into Laos. It came in the wake of Super Typhoon Ragasa, which killed 14 people across northern Philippines. The country is struck by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, routinely affecting disaster-prone areas where millions of people live.

In Vietnam, 175 people were killed or went missing due to natural disasters from January to August this year, according to the General Statistics Office. Total damages were estimated at $371m, almost triple the amount during the same period in 2024, it said.

Typhoon Yagi killed hundreds of people in Vietnam in September last year and caused economic losses worth $3.3bn.

Several people are dead or missing in Vietnam where thousands of residents were still being evacuated as Typhoon Bualoi made landfall sooner than forecast.

Super Typhoon Ragasa, among the most powerful storms to strike Asia in recent years, has hurled waves higher than lampposts across Hong Kong’s promenades and churned coastal waters along southern China after leaving a trail of devastation in Taiwan and the Philippines.

The death toll in Taiwan reached 14 after floodwaters submerged roads and swept away vehicles, while 10 fatalities were confirmed in the northern Philippines.

In Guangdong province, China’s southern economic hub, more than two million residents were evacuated, according to state-run Xinhua news agency.

As Ragasa continues its westward trajectory, authorities suspended select train services in the Guangxi region on Thursday. Chinese officials have allocated tens of millions of dollars towards disaster relief efforts.

Initially, schools, factories and transportation services were suspended across approximately 12 cities, but some areas farther from the landfall site began preparations to resume operations as wind intensity diminished.

Before reaching China, Ragasa inflicted casualties and destruction in Taiwan and the Philippines as it tracked between the two territories.

In Taiwan, the death toll reached 14 after torrential rain caused a barrier lake in Hualien County to overflow on Tuesday, unleashing muddy floodwaters that destroyed a bridge and transformed Guangfu township roads into violent currents carrying away vehicles and furniture.

Of Guangfu’s approximately 8,450 residents, more than half were able to seek refuge on higher floors or elevated terrain.

Rescue teams established contact with more than 100 previously unreachable individuals in Hualien and conducted door-to-door checks on the remaining 17 residents. Across the self-ruled island, 32 people sustained injuries.

In the northern Philippines, at least 10 deaths were reported, including seven fishermen who drowned on Monday when massive waves and fierce winds capsized their boat off Santa Ana in northern Cagayan province. Five additional fishermen remain missing, according to provincial officials.

Nearly 700,000 people were affected by the catastrophic storm, with 25,000 seeking shelter in government emergency facilities.

Rescuers worked through the night to evacuate residents in the northern Philippines as Super Typhoon Ragasa triggered flooding and landslides in the region. Thousands have been displaced by the strongest storm of the year.

China plans to evacuate close to 400,00 people from southern Shenzhen province as the typhoon makes landfall in the northern Philippines.

China has begun preparing to evacuate 400,000 people from the city of Shenzhen ahead of Typhoon Ragasa, which has barreled through northern Philippines with a wind speed of 215km/h (134mph).

Super Typhoon Ragasa made landfall on Monday in Calayan province in the Philippines at 3pm (07:00 GMT), Philippine forecasters reported. More than 8,200 people were evacuated to safety in Cagayan, while 1,220 fled to emergency shelters in Apayao province.

Tropical cyclones with sustained winds of 215km/h (134mph) or higher in the western Pacific are labelled “super typhoons”.

The Philippines’ weather agency warned that “there is a high risk of life-threatening storm surge with peak heights exceeding 3 metres (nearly 10 feet) within the next 24 hours over the low-lying or exposed coastal localities” of the northern provinces of Cagayan, Batanes, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr suspended government work and schools in the capital and 29 provinces in the northern Luzon region.

Ragasa is the 14th weather disturbance to hit the Philippines this year, which comes as the country deals with anti-corruption protests linked to ghost flood-control projects.

The typhoon is forecast to move westwards and remain in the South China Sea until at least Wednesday while passing south of Taiwan and Hong Kong before hitting the Chinese mainland.

Land and sea warnings

Chinese authorities have activated flood control measures in southern provinces and warned of heavy rainfall beginning from Tuesday night.

In China’s Shenzhen, authorities said on Sunday night that they planned to move hundreds of thousands of people from coastal and low-lying areas before the typhoon reaches them.

Other cities in the Guangdong province announced the cancellation of classes, work and public transportation due to the heavy rainfall and strong winds.

Moreover, Taiwan has issued land and sea warnings, cancelled 146 domestic flights, and evacuated more than 900 people from mountainous southern and eastern areas.

Vietnam’s Defence Ministry ordered its forces to monitor the storm and prepare for possible landfall later this week.

Sept. 22 (UPI) — The Philippines was bracing for “catastrophic” damage Monday from a supertyphoon that came ashore in the far north of the country, packing winds of more than 140 mph., and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people.

The country’s weather bureau said typhoon Ragasa posed a “high risk of life-threatening storm surge” in excess of 10 feet with authorities warning of extensive damage to property and infrastructure from flooding and landslides, as well as the wind.

Ragasa came ashore in the remote Batanes or Babuyan islands, about 60 miles off the northern coast of Luzon, the main island of the Philippine archipelago, bringing down power lines in Abra and Cagayan pronvinces on the mainland.

In Manila and across large areas of the country, schools and government offices were shut to reduce the risks to human health and safety from the supertyphoon, which is the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane.

The impact in regions as far away as the Visayas and Mindanao, 800 miles to the south, was due to it boosting the effect of a potent southwest monsoon that had already brought weeks of flooding to the central and southern Philippines.

Taiwan was also impacted, with heavy rains prompting authorities to evacuate hundreds of residents in Hualien, a county on the eastern coast.

The typhoon was expected to track northwestwards, bypassing Taiwan, headed for southern China, where authorities in Guangdong Province were warning of a “catastrophic, large-scale disaster” in the coming days.

The typhoon is not expected to come ashore from the South China Sea until Wednesday, but residents have been advised of heavy rains and strong winds as early as Tuesday with the city of Shenzhen planning a massive operation to move 400,000 people out of harm’s way.

Train services in the province have already halted operations.

To the south in Hong Kong, authorities were warning residents of a “rapid deterioration” of the weather on Tuesday, although the Education Department was still weighing a decision on whether to close schools.

Hong Kong International Airport was preparing for a 36-hour period of full flight cancellations, the longest ever such suspension of civil aviation, due to go into effect at 6 p.m. local time on Tuesday through 6 a.m. Thursday.

Cathay Pacific, the territory’s main carrier, said it expected to cancel about 500 flights while Hongkong Airlines cancelled at least 93 through Thursday, according to the carrier’s website.

Typhoon is the 16th to hit Guangdong province and causes closures of schools, public transport and cancels flights.

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated as Typhoon Tapah has made landfall in southern China, causing flight disruptions and school closures.

State broadcaster CCTV said the storm made landfall on Monday morning in the city of Taishan in Guangdong province, unleashing powerful winds and torrential rain.

The Guangdong Meteorological Bureau raised a yellow alert, the third highest in China’s four-tier warning system, and forecast thunderstorms and gale-force winds.

Authorities said an estimated 60,000 people have been evacuated across southern China before the storm came ashore with maximum winds of 108 kilometres per hour (67 miles per hour).

Guangdong’s Emergency Management Department ordered the suspension of all outdoor activities and closed recreational areas like parks and beaches. Schools were also closed.

Guangdong has been hit by 16 typhoons this year. Tapah is expected to move northwest, gradually losing power until it exits the province.

In Taishan, classes were suspended for 120,000 students at schools and kindergartens across the city as an estimated 41,000 people in Jiangmen were evacuated. Chinese state media reported that 3,300 emergency personnel were on standby in the city.

The southern cities of Jiangmen, Maoming and Zhuhai also raised typhoon warnings and announced school closures.

In Hong Kong, a major regional economic hub, hundreds of flights were cancelled, and travellers were stranded at the airport awaiting information on when flights would continue. Macao, a nearby casino hub, also ordered the closure of its schools, public transport and taxis and reported disruptions to flights.

In the neighbouring city of Yangjiang, just west of Hong Kong, an estimated 1,785 workers were evacuated from 26 offshore wind platforms along with 2,026 people from fish farms.

Authorities have warned residents in areas impacted by the typhoon to remain vigilant.

More than 16,500 soldiers and 107,000 paramilitary personnel have been mobilised to help with the evacuation.

Tens of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate from Vietnam’s coastline facing the South China Sea, with airports and schools shut as authorities brace for Typhoon Kajiki.

The Vietnamese government said on Monday that about 30,000 people had been evacuated from coastal areas. Authorities said on Sunday that more than half a million people would be evacuated and ordered boats to remain in port.

“This is an extremely dangerous fast-moving storm,” the government said in a statement on Sunday night, warning that Kajiki would bring heavy rains, flooding and landslides.

More than 16,500 soldiers and 107,000 paramilitary personnel have been mobilised to help with the evacuation and to stand by for search and rescue, the government said in a statement.

The typhoon with winds of up to 166km/h (103mph) at sea is due to make landfall on Monday afternoon, the country’s weather agency said. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said conditions suggested “an approaching weakening trend as the system approaches the continental shelf of the Gulf of Tonkin where there is less ocean heat content”.

Two airports in the Thanh Hoa and Quang Binh provinces have been closed, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air cancelled dozens of flights to and from the area on Sunday and Monday.

Coastal provinces have banned ships from going out to sea starting Monday and were calling in those already out, said Vietnam’s news agency.

Vietnam is prone to storms that are often deadly and trigger dangerous flooding and mudslides. More than 100 people were killed or went missing due to natural disasters in the first seven months of 2025, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Last year, Typhoon Yagi killed about 300 people and caused property damage of approximately $3.3bn.

‘A bit scared’

The waterfront city of Vinh was deluged overnight, its streets largely deserted by morning with most shops and restaurants closed as residents and business owners sandbagged their property entrances.

“I have never heard of a typhoon of this big scale coming to our city,” 66-year-old Le Manh Tung, in the city of Vinh, told the AFP news agency. He is sheltering alongside other evacuated families at an indoor stadium.

“I am a bit scared, but then we have to accept it because it’s nature – we cannot do anything.”

Houses run the risk of collapse from the storm, and even high-rise buildings could suffer serious damage, said Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, the official Vietnam News Agency reported.

The storm is projected to move inland across Laos and northern Thailand.

Kajiki hit the southern coast of China’s Hainan Island on Sunday as it moved towards Vietnam. About 20,000 residents were evacuated from the Chinese province, which downgraded its typhoon and emergency response alerts on Monday morning.

But authorities warned of heavy rain and isolated storms in cities in the southern part of the province.

Schools and workplaces close, hundreds of flights cancelled and thousands evacuate as Typhoon Podul nears island.

Thousands of people have evacuated, schools have closed, and hundreds of flights have been cancelled as Typhoon Podul approaches southern Taiwan with wind gusts as strong as 191kph (118 mph).

The mid-strength Typhoon Podul is expected to make landfall later on Wednesday, and was reported to be intensifying as it approached Taiwan’s southeastern city of Taitung, weather officials said.

Podul “is strengthening”, Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lin Ting-yi said, with the typhoon on track to hit the sparsely populated Taitung County at about noon local time (04:00 GMT).

After making landfall, the storm is expected to hit Taiwan’s more densely populated western coast before moving into the Taiwan Strait and towards China’s southern province of Fujian later this week.

As much as 600mm (almost 24 inches) of rain has been forecast in southern mountainous areas over the next few days, the CWA said, while nine cities and counties announced the suspension of work and school, including the southern metropolises of Kaohsiung and Tainan.

Taiwan’s government said that more than 5,500 people had been evacuated in advance of the typhoon’s arrival, and all domestic flights – a total of 252 – as well as 129 international routes have been cancelled, the transport ministry said.

Typhoon Podul lashed Orchid Island with gusts of up to 155 kph at around 8 a.m. Wednesday, contributing to a power outage that hit 258 households in the island’s Tungching Village. Winds and rain were also intensifying in Taitung. pic.twitter.com/qaeCwFg9Vu

— Focus Taiwan (CNA English News) (@Focus_Taiwan) August 13, 2025

Taiwan’s two main international carriers, China Airlines and EVA Air, said their cancellations were for routes out of Kaohsiung, with some flights from the island’s main international airport at Taoyuan stopped as well.

In the capital, Taipei, which is home to Taiwan’s financial markets and is being spared the typhoon so far, residents reported clear skies and some sunshine.

Typhoon Danas, which hit Taiwan in early July, killed two people and injured hundreds as the storm dumped more than 500mm (19.6 inches) of rain across the south over a weekend, causing widespread landslides and flooding.

That was followed by torrential rain from July 28 to August 4, with some areas recording more than a year’s worth of rainfall in a single week. The week of bad weather left five people dead, three missing, and 78 injured, a disaster official said previously.

Taiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to October, while scientists say human-driven climate change is causing more intense weather patterns.

Vietnam is bracing for Typhoon Wipha, expected to make landfall Tuesday with winds up to 166 km/h. Mass evacuations, flight cancellations, and flood alerts are underway as the country prepares for deadly floods and landslides. The storm killed three in the Philippines.

Vietnam is expecting 500mm of rainfall as Typhoon Wipha approaches the northern coast after skirting the Philippines, where five people were killed and several are missing.

Rainfall and flooding, which left five people dead and displaced thousands over the weekend, have continued in the Philippines following Typhoon Wipha, which is now barrelling towards the coast of northern Vietnam as a severe tropical storm.

As of 6am local time in Vietnam on Tuesday (23:00 GMT), Wipha was situated 60km (37 miles) off the coast of Haiphong City, with wind speeds of up to 102 kph (63 mph), and was moving southwest at a speed of 15 kph (9.3 mph), according to Vietnam’s national weather forecast agency.

No casualties or damage have been reported so far, while an estimated 350,000 Vietnamese soldiers are on standby as the country’s weather agency expects up to 500mm (20 inches) of rainfall, which could cause dangerous flooding and landslides.

Expected to make landfall in Hung Yen and Ninh Binh provinces, located south of the capital, Hanoi, Wipha is forecast to weaken to a low-pressure event on Tuesday night, the agency said.

Floodwaters driven by torrential rains in the aftermath of Typhoon Wipha brought much of life in the Philippine capital, Manila, to a halt on Tuesday, with tens of thousands evacuated from their homes and at least two people believed missing.

Schools and government offices remained closed in Manila and surrounding provinces after a night of rain that saw the region’s Marikina River burst its banks.

More than 23,000 people living along the river were evacuated and took shelter in schools, village halls and covered courtyards. Another 25,000 more were evacuated in the metropolitan area’s Quezon and Caloocan cities.

An elderly woman and her driver were swept down a swollen stream as they attempted to cross a bridge in Caloocan, John Paul Nietes, an emergency operations centre assistant supervisor, told the AFP news agency.

“Their car was recovered last night. The rescue operation is continuing, but as of today, they haven’t found either of them,” he said.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in the Philippines, five people have been reported killed as of Monday, and at least another five were reported injured following Typhoon Wipha, local news outlet Enquirer.net reported. Seven people are also missing, according to the council.

At least 20 storms or typhoons strike or come near the Philippines each year, with the country’s poorest regions typically the hardest hit. Their impact has become more deadly and destructive as storms grow more powerful due to climate change.

Earlier this year, Super Typhoon Yagi hit Vietnam, killing about 300 people and causing some $3.3bn in damage.