Typhoon slams into Philippines
Power cut hits thousands as winds of up to 190kph lash eastern Philippines.
The authority in charge of the city’s airport said they were considering diverting all incoming flights to Hong Kong.
Economy hit
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| The storm is following a similar path to September’s Typhoon Xangsane |
Durian is the fourth typhoon to strike the Philippines in three months and appears to be following a similar path to September’s Typhoon Xangsane.
That storm left around 200 people dead and missing with clean-up work still far from finished.
Damage to transport links and crops has already had a noticeable impact on the country’s third quarter economic figures.
On Wednesday night several outlying islands and coastal areas were plunged into darkness as Durian hit the Philippine coast
Rescue officials have warned of the danger of flash floods, mudslides and powerful storm surges.
An archipelago of several thousand islands, the Philippines regularly finds itself in the path of typhoons.
The worst in recent memory came in 1991 when floods triggered by Typhoon Thelma killed more than 5,000 people on the island of Leyte.