Tropical storm rages in the Philippines, there are victims

Typhoon Aere killed nine people as it pounded eastern provinces of the Philippines and brought flooding to the capital, leaving thousands stranded in ports.

The storm, with maximum winds of 85 kilometers per hour (53 miles an hour), made landfall in Catanduanes yesterday and was forecast to move to the northern portion of Luzon island in the next two days, according to the 5 p.m. bulletin of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical & Astronomical Services Administration yesterday, according to Bloomberg.

Authorities in Bicol scrambled their rescue and relief missions but were hampered by the rough weather.

"The provincial road going to the (area) is not passable due to flooding," said Inspector Ayn Natuel, a spokesman at the Bicol regional police headquarters.

Aere, the first major storm of the year, hit Catanduanes, an island of about 250,000 people, with winds hitting 85 kilometres per hour at its centre.

The disaster management council said more than 70,000 people were evacuated to safer ground as a pre-emptive measure in the eastern Bicol and in central Visayas regions, NEWS.com.au reports.

The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) issued a sea warning for Tropical Storm Aere early Monday as the 2011 Pacific typhoon season's first storm approached the Bashi Channel off southeastern Taiwan.

Tropical Storm Aere was centered at sea east of Luzon Island in the Philippines at around 5: 30 a.m. Monday and was moving closer to the Bashi Channel, the bureau said, Focus Taiwan News Channel reports.