MANILA: Thousands of residents fled their homes along the Pacific seaboard of the Philippines on Saturday as Tropical Storm Fengshen made landfall, triggering warnings of coastal flooding.
The storm barrelled into the municipality of Gubat at the southeastern tip of the main island of Luzon late afternoon, with gusts of up to 80km an hour, the government weather service said.
Authorities said there were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties, with evacuations already carried out in hazard-prone areas and low-lying communities.
"We had heavy rain and wind gusts, though they were not that strong," Gubat rescuer Ryan Estrellado told AFP by telephone.
Fengshen will likely intensify before making a second landfall in central Luzon on Sunday, the weather office said.
The weather bureau warned of a "minimal to moderate risk" of coastal flooding, with waves reaching up to two metres.
Some 27,000 residents of the province of Albay and nearby Catanduanes island moved to safer ground, local disaster officials said.
The evacuations are a well-rehearsed routine in a region that is often the first major landmass struck by cyclones that form in the western Pacific Ocean.
The Philippines is hit by around 20 storms and typhoons each year, which routinely strike areas where millions of people live in poverty.
Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful as the planet warms due to human-driven climate change.
Fengshen comes as the country reels from a series of major earthquakes that killed at least 87 people over the past three weeks. — AFP
