Typhoon Mangkhut struck the Philippines early Saturday, after thousands of people evacuated their homes to dodge the 550-mile-wide storm as it roared across the Pacific. Eight hours after landfall, there were no reports of casualties or major damage, but some places could not be contacted because of power and communication outages. The typhoon had weakened somewhat but still had gusts of up to 100 miles an hour, the agency said. Manuel Mamba, the governor of Cagayan Province, where the storm made landfall, said nearly 10,000 people there had taken shelter in evacuation centers as the typhoon was nearing, and he credited that for the lack of casualty reports so far. Trees were uprooted and parts of a major thoroughfare, Roxas Boulevard along Manila Bay, were knee-deep in water.

Source: New York Times September 14, 2018 23:12 UTC