Emergency personnel worked on Saturday to restore power to an estimated 2 million people in the northeast Philippines. Winds of up to 150 kilometers per hour (93 miles per hour) toppled pylons and trees and ripped roofs off buildings overnight after the storm made landfall in the province of Aurora, which lies less than 200 kilometers (124 miles) northeast of the capital Manila.

"A lot of areas are still flooded," said Eduardo del Rosario, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

The governor of neighboring Bulacan province, Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alarado, told the Associated Press news agency that more than 20 villages were under water, some up to 2 meters (6.6 feet). Roughly 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of rice and vegetable farms had been damaged, he added.

Officials evacuated several thousand people before the Category 1 typhoon made landfall. Nevertheless, the storm claimed over a dozen lives. At least 5 people were killed when trees crashed into their homes, according to the National Disaster Risk Management Office. A landslide and high waters were responsible for several other deaths, according to the same officials.

Typhoon Nari is now headed west toward Vietnam.

kms/hc (AP, AFP, dpa)