Today's Edition
MANILA (AFP)
More than 10,000 evacuees sheltered in schools and evacuation centres in the Philippines on Monday as heavy rains and gale-force winds from Super Typhoon Ragasa lashed the country's far north.
The typhoon, which is gaining strength as it proceeds on a collision course with southern China, was expected to make landfall over the Philippines' Babuyan Islands around midday.
As of 11:00 am (0300 GMT), maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometres per hour were reported at the storm's centre, with gusts reaching up to 265 kph as it moved westward towards the Babuyans, the National Weather Service in the Philippines said.
"I woke up because of the strong wind. It was hitting the windows, and it sounded like a machine that was switched on," said Tirso Tugagao, a resident of Aparri, a coastal town in northern Cagayan province.
"I'm seeing from my house here that the high waves are crashing onto the shore," the 45-year-old teacher said. "I pray everyone will be safe."
Cagayan disaster chief Rueli Rapsing told AFP that his team was prepared for "the worst".
