Typhoon submerges villages, farmlands in northern Philippines

A tropical storm that made landfall early on Sunday in the northern Philippines has intensified into a typhoon, the weather bureau said, bringing moderate to heavy rains that submerged villages and farmlands.

Nearly a thousand people were preemptively evacuated to safer ground, according to the disaster monitoring agency.

A video shared by a resident of Claveria town in Cagayan province, about 60km north of the capital Manila, showed widespread flooding and a partially submerged home, with trees blown by strong winds.

Nesat, packing winds of 120kph, may further intensify while moving towards the South China Sea, the weather bureau said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Twitter that government assistance was on the way to the affected communities.

- Reuters