Typhoon Noru bears down on Philippines

Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Typhoon Noru made landfall on the Philippine region of Luzon on Sunday, bringing strong winds and storm surge before moving west toward Vietnam.

The eye wall of the storm, known locally as Typhoon Karding, made landfall on the Polillo Islands around 5 p.m. Sunday, according to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. The storm made landfall with 149 mph winds, the equivalent of Category 4 hurricane.

As of about 2 a.m. Monday, the eye of the typhoon was located in the town of Mayantoc on Luzon island. It was tracking northwestward at about 12 mph toward the South China Sea and the Vietnam coast. It had maximum sustained winds of 87 mph -- the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane -- with gusts up to 143 mph.

The storm has weakened as it tracked its way across land, but the Philippine Star reported it's expected to maintain typhoon intensity as it heads again to open waters.

The typhoon brought destructive winds to large parts of the Luzon region, bringing down trees in Mandaluyong City. The Marikina River swelled to 59 feet above sea level and prompting the highest flood alarm in Marikina City. The alarm forced the evacuation of at-risk residents, who were house at some 50 evacuation camps, the Star reported.

Officials opened eight flood gates along the river to prevent flooding in the capital of Manila.

Officials issued an extreme emergency alert early Sunday and canceled some schools Monday, CNN reported.