Typhoon Kammuri swept through the Philippines on Tuesday, ripping rooftops from houses, knocking down power lines and leaving a half-million people huddled in evacuation centers, waiting for the storm to pass. At least 17 people were killed.

Manila’s international airport was closed for 12 hours during the storm, resulting in the cancellation of nearly 500 flights. Officials suspended marine traffic in affected areas as Kammuri, packing wind gusts as high as 150 miles per hour, battered the Philippine archipelago for a second day.

By early Wednesday the storm had weakened slightly, officials said, but heavy rainfall was expected to continue. Officials had feared that flooding could deluge Manila, the capital, and its surrounding areas, home to more than 10 million people.

In Albay, a province in southeastern Luzon, the largest and most populous Philippine island, Gov. Al Francis Bichara said fierce winds had caused more damage than the rain.