Manila: Five people were confirmed dead as Typhoon Nanmadol hit northern Philippines on Saturday.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Nanmadol (local codename: Mina) brought powerful winds with speeds up to 195km/h at the centre and gust of up to 230 km/h as it pummeled Cagayan province.
Cagayan's northern section had been placed under typhoon signal No 4 - the highest in the four step warning system - since Friday evening.
Although the typhoon did not squarely hit the Philippines and just grazed the northeastern portion of the country, it brought heavy rains and powerful winds over an area roughly 600 kilometres in diameter - larger than the size of the main northern island of Luzon.
The NDRRMC reported that two children had died in a landslide caused by the heavy rains in Pangasinan which was under typhoon signal number 1.
The fatalities had been identified as Reajen, 6, and John Rey, 5, both surnamed Bautista. The are from the coastal town of San Fabian.
In the northern mountain resort city of Baguio, tons of debris buried several shanties at a former garbage dump, killing three children aged 10 to 15 years, disaster officials said.
Residents near the dump site told rescuers that several others were still buried, said civil defence planning officer Jojo Velera.
At least four other people were confirmed missing, including a fisherman from Catanduanes province, about 350 kilometres east of the capital, Manila, who failed to return home Thursday during stormy weather related to the typhoon, and another fisherman from La Union province, north of Manila.
Two men were swept away Saturday by strong river currents in Ilocos Sur province north of La Union, officials said.
Meteorologists said Nanmadol hit land near Cagayan province's Gonzaga township on the northeastern tip of Luzon around 6am Saturday (2am UAE time on Saturday). Its maximum winds had weakened 12 hours later to 166 km/h with gusts of up to 200 km/h.
About 200 people who evacuated a coastal village in Gonzaga because storm surges flooded their community were advised later Saturday it was safe to return home after the storm eased, said Norma Talosig, the region's civil defense director. The typhoon was moving north, toward southern Taiwan, at just 7 km/h.
In Taiwan, officials warned ships passing through the Bashi Channel south of the island to stay alert.
Forecasters said the typhoon's cloud band was 600 kilometres in diameter, and that rains would continue to drench most of northern Luzon Island and generate gale-force winds that would result in rough seas in the northern and central Philippines over the weekend.
Rivers in Cagayan and nearby Isabela province have swelled and the waters have flowed over at least six bridges, halting or slowing traffic in several towns, Talosig said.
Civil Defence Administrator Benito Ramos reported scattered landslides in the mountainous Cordillera region and power outages in Cagayan province and nearby Isabela province.
He warned of more landslides and flashfloods in the Cagayan Valley region because the Cordillera mountains to the west and the Sierra Madre to the east were already saturated with rainwater.
Workers were clearing landslides that blocked roads in Cordillera, including the picturesque zigzag to Baguio, officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said Nanmadol may not make landfall there but was expected to move north along the island's eastern coast Monday and Tuesday. It said the typhoon would bring torrential rains and heavy winds to Taiwan.
- With inputs from agencies
