Hanoi(VNA) – Landslides caused by Typhoon Yutu have killed five people and buriedmore than 30 others in mountainous provinces of northern Luzon in thePhilippines, as it barreled across the country with heavy rains and strongwinds.

The tropical cycloneswept across the mainland of Luzon on October 30 with wind speeds of 140 km perhour and gusts of up to 230 km per hour, which sheared off roofs and snappedmany large trees in half.

Landslides have cutoff roads, isolating some areas and preventing rescue teams from reachingtrapped victims, national disaster management chief Ruben Carandang toldreporters on October 31. Light helicopters have been deployed to fly rescueteams and search dogs to the isolated victims, he added.

Yutu is the 18thtyphoon to hit the Philippines this year. According to the US NationalAeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it is likely to be the mostintense and powerful storm of 2018. However, Philippine disaster officials saidthe storm was less powerful than Typhoon Mangkhut which hit the country sixweeks ago.

On October 30, thestorm was downgraded to warning Level Two with wind speeds of 135 km per hour.

Cutting a path justsouth of Typhoon Mangkhut’s trail, which killed more than 100 people anddamaged about 180 million USD worth of crops, Yutu tore across the Philippines’most populous island and dumped heavy rain along its way.

Local authorities hadto evacuate nearly 10,000 people to safer ground before the storm arrived.

An average of 20typhoons and storms lash the Philippines each year, killing hundreds of peopleand leaving millions in near-perpetual poverty. The country’s deadliest stormon record is super Typhoon Haiyan which left more than 7,350 people dead ormissing across the central Philippines in 2013. –VNA