5,000 evacuated in Philippines ahead of typhoon Kalmaegi

Some 5,000 people have been evacuated in northern Philippines ahead of the arrival of typhoon Kalmaegi, which is expected to make landfall in Cagayan province on Tuesday.

"We are prepared for the arrival of the storm," Efe news quoted Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba as saying.

With the arrival of Kalmaegi, which on Monday went from a severe tropical storm to typhoon, the northernmost provinces of the Philippines, such as Cagayan, Isabela, Ilocos or Batanes, have already begun to experience rain and wind, which will intensify during the day.

However, the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (Pagasa) said the typhoon would lose strength once it hits land.

The typhoon - named locally as Ramon - was located at 7 a.m. on Tuesday 110 km east of the town of Calayan in Cagayan.

The storm was moving slowly in a northwest direction with sustained winds of 120 km per hour and gusts of 150 kph.

Although Pagasa announced the end of cyclone season in October, Kalmaegi will be the biggest typhoon in the Philippines in 2019, a year in which tropical storms have been notably quiet.