China set to evacuate 400,000 as super typhoon makes landfall in Philippines

Over 10,000 Filipinos moved to safe places; schools, govt offices shut in the Manila region and across 29 other provinces

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A man walks amid heavy rain due to Super Typhoon Ragasa in Lal-lo town, Cagayan province, the Philippines, on Monday. (Right): A man stands near debris on a waterfront road in Aparri town, Cagayan province.

(AFP)

The Chinese city of Shenzhen began preparing to evacuate 400,000 people while residents of the northern Philippines sought shelter from gale-force winds Monday as Super Typhoon Ragasa continued on a collision course with southern China.

The typhoon made landfall on the Philippines’ Calayan Island, part of the sparsely populated Babuyan chain, at 3 pm (0700 GMT), according to the Philippine weather service.

As of 2 pm (0600 GMT), maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometres per hour were reported at the storm’s centre, with gusts reaching as high as 295 kph, the national weather service 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.