MANILA • A boy getting the drenching of his life as heavy rain and high waves whipped by tropical storm Linfa crash along a breakwater in Manila Bay.

All shipping was ordered to stay in harbour and some flights were cancelled in the northern Philippines, while schools were closed in Manila yesterday because of floods and landslides from the storm.

Warnings were issued in at least 14 areas of the main Philippine island of Luzon as Linfa moved slowly across the north of the archipelago, with maximum gusts of 100kmh.

Mr Alexander Pama, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said the storm would bring heavy rain within a 400km radius. "We are grounding all sea travel and fishing operations in the north because we expect sea waves to go as high as 4m. We don't want any loss of life or any accidents," he said.

Army units are on standby to evacuate people to temporary shelters if needed, he added.

The government is expecting some crop damage in rice-producing areas in northern Luzon.

An average of 20 typhoons pass through the Philippines every year. Haiyan, the strongest typhoon ever to make landfall in the Philippines, killed more than 6,300 people and left 1,000 missing in 2013.

Two other storms are brewing far to the east of the Philippines. Typhoon Nangka and tropical storm Chan-Hom are expected to pick up speed as they head north-west. Both are likely to pass to the north of the Philippines based on current projections, according to tracking site Tropical Storm Risk.

REUTERS