Two dead as Typhoon Nesat batters northern Philippines
Typhoon Nesat slammed the northern Philippines Tuesday, killing at least two people and forcing thousands to flee their homes.
Nesat's strong winds toppled electric posts, uprooted trees and tore off roofs, including the tin roof of an evacuation centre housing about 500 people in Manila.
School classes, government offices and trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange were suspended in the affected areas.
The Office of Civil Defence said a baby drowned in a swollen river in the eastern province of Catanduanes, while one person was crushed to death by a toppled tree in the Manila suburb of Caloocan.
Four fishermen were also missing, it added.
The weather bureau said Nesat made landfall before dawn in the mountain ranges between the northern provinces of Aurora and Isabela.
Nesat, with maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometres per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 170 kph, would cross the northern region of Luzon through the day.
Tens of thousands were evacuated from their homes in flood- and landslide-prone areas, while thousands of passengers were stranded due to the suspension of air and sea travel.
