Six People Killed in Philippine Typhoon

The Philippines is regularly ravaged by storms, with scientists warning they are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer because of climate change.

Noru smashed into the archipelago nation on Sunday after an unprecedented “explosive intensification” in wind speeds, the state weather forecaster said earlier.

It made landfall about 100 kilometers northeast of Manila, before weakening to a typhoon as it crossed a mountain range, coconut plantations, and rice fields.

More than 74,000 people were evacuated from their homes before the storm hit, as the meteorology agency warned heavy rain could cause “serious flooding” in vulnerable areas and trigger landslides.

But on Monday, there was no sign of the widespread devastation many had feared, as the storm moved over the South China Sea towards Vietnam.

State weather forecaster Ana Laurel said Noru brought less rain and moved faster compared to other destructive typhoons that have hit the Philippines.

“It all depends on the interplay of the weather systems. Each typhoon has its own characteristics,” Laurel explained.

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Aerial footage taken during Marcos’s inspection flight over central Luzon showed rivers that were swollen or had burst their banks and patches of farmland under water.

Officials estimate about 141 million pesos ($2.4 million) worth of crops were damaged.