Typhoon Phanfone, with winds of 195 kilometres (120 miles) an hour, swept across remote villages and popular tourist areas in the central Philippines. It tore roofs off houses and toppled electric posts as it cut across the country on Christmas day, claiming 16 lives in its wake.
A full assessment of the damage caused by Phanfone hasn't been possible as internet mobile phone networks are still cut off in some badly damaged areas.
Among the 16 who lost their lives, Phanfone was a police officer who was electrocuted by a toppled electric post while patrolling.
The storms that occur on the Pacific typhoon belt tend to wipe out harvests, homes and infrastructure, leaving millions of people perennially poor. The Philippines, one of the major landmass facing the belt, is hit by an average of about 20 major storms a year.
Many of the storms are deadly, and they typically wipe out harvests, homes and infrastructure, keeping millions of people perennially poor.
The typhoon also hit Boracay, Coron and other holiday destinations that are famed for their white-sand beaches and popular with foreign tourists. "Roads remain blocked, but some efforts have been made to clear away the damage. It's pretty bad," Jung Byung Joon a Korean tourist said via Instagram messenger.
The airport at Kalibo, which services Boracay, was badly damaged, according to Byung Joon who was stranded there.
The Phanfone tracked the same path as the Super Typhoon Haiyan, which in 2013 left 7,300 people dead or missing. Taxis were reported to be running late and people were hesitating to leave the airport as it was still raining.
While a lot of people have been stranded with ferry and plane services being suspended, tens of thousands of people in the mostly Catholic nation had been forced to evacuate their homes on Wednesday, ruining Christmas celebrations.
