Typhoon Haima lashes Philippines with flooding, winds

Typhoon Haima limped out to sea Thursday after slamming the northern Philippine Island of Luzon late Wednesday with winds estimated at 140 mph, forecasters said.

The storm, which hit as the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane, lashed the island with flooding and wind damage. Alan Tabell, department of interior and local government director, told the Philippine Inquirer he received reports of eight fatalities. Two people were missing, he said.

Haima's winds decreased to 100 mph Thursday. AccuWeather meteorologist Jim Andrews said the next target of the storm will be the southeastern China city of Shanwei, a city of 2 million people 80 miles east of Hong Kong.

"They are going to get quite a shot of torrential rains and high winds, at least hurricane gusts," Andrews told Paste BN. "Haima is moving quickly so it shouldn't prolong the agony at any one spot, but it could be anywhere from 5 to 10 inches of rain."

The storm, known in the Philippines as Lawin, made landfall in the city of Penablanca on Wednesday night. Haima weakened after hitting the mountains of Sierra Madre and Cordilleras, Tabell said.

Wilma Cabrera, undersecretary of the department of social welfare and development, said more than 80,000 people were evacuated in the regions of Ilocos, Cagayan, Cordillera, Central Luzon and Bicol.

“In my age, I’m 60 years old, this is the strongest typhoon I have ever seen,” village councilor Willie Cabalteja told The Associated Press in Ilocos Sur province.

Haima weakened from a 165-mph super typhoon before making landfall in the Philippines. A typhoon — a hurricane located in the northwestern Pacific Ocean region — becomes a super typhoon when sustained wind speeds reach 150 mph. The system was the Earth's seventh storm of the year to reach Category 5 status, a hurricane level meaning winds in excess of 157 mph.