Doksuri batters Philippines: Typhoon blows off roofs, floods villages and displaces thousands

Manila: A powerful storm hit the northern Philippines on Wednesday, toppling trees, knocking out power and dumping heavy rain as thousands sheltered with neighbours or in emergency evacuation centres.

Typhoon Doksuri was packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 175 kilometres (109 miles) an hour as it hovered over waters around Fuga Island, off the northern tip of the main island of Luzon, the state weather agency said in its latest update at 0000 GMT.

There were no immediate reports of casualties after the typhoon slammed into Fuga island off Aparri town in Cagayan province, where more than 12,100 people were evacuated from high-risk coastal villages and schools, and workplaces were shut down as a precaution as Doksuri approached.

Thousands of people in other northern provinces were also displaced by the typhoon, which has a 700-kilometer-wide (435-mile-wide) band of wind and rain.

Around 12,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Cagayan province, including 431 in the Babuyan islands, following warnings of three-metre high storm surges, provincial disaster official Ruelie Rapsing said.

More than 4,600 inter-island ferry passengers and cargo truck drivers, along with nearly 100 passenger and cargo vessels and motor bancas, were stranded in several ports where a no-sail order was imposed, the Philippine coast guard said.

Storm warnings are in place in many parts of the northern island of Luzon, which is home to about half of the Philippines' 110 million population. Authorities have warned of storm surges, landslides, and damage to infrastructure.

A damage assessment would be done after the typhoon passes, but Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba said he feared there could be extensive damage to Cagayan valley’s corn and rice farms, which have already been battered by a monthslong dry spell before Doksuri hit.

Categorised as a super typhoon on Tuesday, Doksuri had weakened slightly on Wednesday. It is expected to brush past Taiwan and make landfall in China's Fujian province on Friday, according to the Philippines weather bureau. Doksuri is expected to weaken further as it moves across the South China Sea towards southeastern China.

Doksuri, locally known as Egay, is the fifth storm to hit the Southeast Asian nation this year, which is hit by an average 20 typhoons each year. Scientists have warned that global warming will only make storms wetter, windier and more violent.