Nesat kills at least seven on passage through Philippines

Typhoon Nesat has swept through the Philippines killing at least seven people and leaving the capital Manila with waist-high floods and power cuts. The government said Nesat was one of the largest storms the country had faced this year, with its rain and wind path twice as big as average. 

Reuters/Cheryl Ravelo

Four people died when a building collapsed in the capital which saw some of the worst storm damage.

"This storm is very intense, the rain is strong and winds are powerful... we are hearing of rivers about to burst their banks, and there are evacuations going on in different areas," said civil defence chief Benito Ramos.

Nesat hit the northeastern side of the main Luzon island before dawn, bringing maximum sustained winds of up to 140 kilometres an hour and gusts clocking in at 170 kilometres an hour.

About 1,400 people were reportedly relocated to 17 evacuation centres from four coastal towns in Isabela province to avoid powerful storm surges while some 110,000 residents had already been evacuated from several flood prone towns in Albay, another eastern province, on Monday.