One of the most powerful Typhoons to ever hit the Philippines killed at least eight people today as ferocious gales and landslides destroyed tens of thousands of homes.
The Storm, Haima brought sustained winds of up to 225km/h, made landfall over Cagayan in the North on Wednesday. Nearly 100,000 people were evacuated from threatened areas as the storm approached.
There was widespread damage overnight, with homes destroyed and power lines brought down. Authorities said two of those killed were buried in a landslide, and two others buried in a shanty town in a mountainous region.
Experts had feared Haima could prove as destructive as the catastrophic super Typhoon Haiyan, which claimed more than 7,350 lives in 2013. The Philippines endures around 20 major storms every year, many of them deadly.
President Rodrigo Duterte, in Beijing on a state visit, had said he prayed the Philippines would be spared but that they were “ready”.