The northern Philippines was then hit again on Monday, this time by Typhoon Toraji. It has since eased in intensity but remains at tropical storm strength as it moves towards southern China, where it is expected to bring widespread heavy rain.

The Philippines has scrambled to deal with multiple calamities wreaked by four back-to-back typhoons and storms in less than a month.

A tropical storm that strengthened over the weekend made landfall as a typhoon in the northern Philippines, as the country grapples with millions of dollars in crop damage from a series of relentless cyclones this year.