Two people were killed and more than 3,000 others were forced to evacuate their homes as Typhoon Noul slammed into the Cagayan province in the northeastern Philippines on May 10^th, according to the country’s national disaster agency.

Vessels shelter in Manila bay (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Two people were killed and more than 3,000 others were forced to evacuate their homes as Typhoon Noul slammed into the Cagayan province in the northeastern Philippines on May 10^th, according to the country’s national disaster agency.

By May 11, the typhoon weakened slightly after hitting land with sustained winds of 160 kilometres per hour and gusts up to 195 kilometres per hour.

It's forecast to move north in the direction of the southern Japan with a speed of 19 kilometres per hour.

The Philippines’ authorities said they evacuated about 3,400 residents in the Cagayan and Isabela provinces ahead of the typhoon's arrival.

Several hundred people living the restive Bulusan volcano on Luzon island, who were evacuated due to fears of flows of mud and debris after the volcano spewed ash twice last week, returned home safely on May 10^th.

Although causing damage, Noul also provided needed rains to the country’s largest corn-producing province of Isabela after a dry spell in the region.

About 20 storms and typhoons hit the Philippines annually. The strongest on record to make landfall – typhoon Haiyan – devastated the central Philippines in 2013, claiming about 8,000 lives.

Authorities in Taiwan (China) on May 10^th evacuated almost 1,000 tourists from an island off the southeast coast of the Green island and warned sailors of strong winds and high waves as Noul was expected to pass through the island.