Typhoon Krathon batters Philippine islands, heads toward Taiwan
Typhoon Krathon struck a remote group of Philippine islands near Taiwan on Monday, causing power outages and communication disruptions, according to the state weather service.
The typhoon passed near the island of Sabtang in the Batanes group late in the morning with maximum sustained winds of 170 kilometres (106 miles) an hour and gusts of up to 215 kilometres (134 miles) an hour, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.Krathon was expected to head towards Taiwan, where authorities closed schools and evacuated more than 800 people in the south and east as a precaution.
The Philippines' weather service said in its latest bulletin that "significant to severe impacts from typhoon-force winds are possible" in Batanes, a province of some 20,000 people.
Batanes governor Marilou Cayco, reached by satellite phone by the DZBB radio station in Manila, said the typhoon began to hit the islands last night and that 27 families had been evacuated.
There were no reports of casualties before electricity and telephone contact were cut by the strong winds, said a senior Batanes police official, who was on the main island of Luzon further south and asked not to be identified.
The police official also told AFP "pre-emptive evacuations" were undertaken shortly before the typhoon struck.
Police and rescue officials in Batanes province could not be reached by normal phone service.
Photos and video clips posted on social media showed coconut trees swaying violently in a white blanket of rain and fog on Batan and Sabtang, two of the islands that make up Batanes province.
Typhoons are common around the region at this time of year.
However, a recent study showed that they are increasingly forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly and lasting longer over land due to climate change.
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