Typhoon Kammuri makes landfall in Philippines, thousands evacuated

Authorities evacuated thousands of people from their homes to safer places as a powerful typhoon, 'Kammuri', made landfall on Luzon, Philippines' largest and most populous island on Monday evening.

Kammuri, with high-powered winds nearing 130 kmph, made landfall near Gubat city and has continued to strengthen. It has been labelled as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, CNN reported.

The typhoon's eye, known locally as Tisoy, was set to move directly over Legazpi City in the next few hours, bringing torrential downpour and strong winds that could cause flooding and mudslides leading to widespread devastation.

The storm will continue moving across Central Philippines and Luzon over the next 24 hours before emerging into the South China Sea on early Wednesday morning, according to CNN.

Filipino authorities in Albay province, where Legazpi City is located, had begun evacuating 1,00,000 people in anticipation of the strong typhoon, as per state-run Philippines News Agency.

Owing to the inclement weather, red alerts have been issued in several parts of the island country, including in Metro Manila.

Typhoon Kammuri has forced the closure of schools across the affected region on Monday and Philippines-based airline Cebu Pacific has cancelled several flights due to the storm.

There are also worries that the typhoon could play spoilsport in the ongoing 2019 Southeast Asian Games that the Philippines is hosting.

The biennial regional athletic event, which formally began on November 30 and will go on till December 11, features over 8,000 athletes from 11 participating countries.