Super Typhoon Noul intensified Sunday as it whirled toward the northeastern Philippines, prompting warnings of flooding and landslides in the mountainous region.
With Noul threatening to batter several provinces with ferocious winds and torrential rain, authorities say they have so far relocated more than 1,200 residents of vulnerable areas to evacuation centers.
The storm, which is referred to as Dodong in the Philippines, strengthened into a super typhoon early Sunday, with maximum sustained winds of 240 kph (150 mph) and gusts as strong as 296 kph (184 mph).
Noul is forecast to make landfall Sunday afternoon or early evening over the northeastern tip of the island of Luzon, according to PAGASA, the Philippine government agency that monitors the weather.
Storm warnings across three provinces
The agency issued its second-highest storm warning signal for the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela and Apayao, saying the super typhoon could bring flash floods and landslides.
Over roughly two days, Noul could dump as much as half a meter (20 inches) of rain on some areas, almost the same amount that London gets in a year, said meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
Much of the region is sparsely populated, but the mountainous terrain is likely to draw a lot of the rain, Javaheri said.
The rough seas caused by the storm prompted many vessels ships to take shelter in ports, leaving more than 5,000 people stranded across the nation, according to the national disaster management agency.
Farmers wanted rain
Noul is been menacing the northeastern Philippines at a time when a volcano, Mount Bulusan, has been spewing ash in southern Luzon.
Farmers in Luzon had been hoping the storm would weaken while still providing much needed rains after a dry spell in the region, according to the charity World Vision.
But the storm has only got stronger and looks set to bring extreme amounts of rain to some areas.
Situated in a vulnerable part of the Pacific, the Philippines experiences an average of 20 typhoons a year, five of them destructive, according to the Asian Disaster Reduction Center.