Tropical Storm Trami has killed at least 26 people and forced more than 150,000 to flee their homes in the Philippines, officials said on October 24, as it made landfall on the northeastern coast.

Trami, locally known as severe tropical storm Kristine, dumped heavy to torrential rain on the main island of Luzon triggering widespread flooding and landslides.

With maximum sustained winds of 95 kph (59 mph), the storm was moving westward across the mountainous northern region of Cordillera towards the South China Sea, the state weather agency said in its 11 a.m. (0300 GMT) weather bulletin.

Over 163,000 people were sheltering in evacuation centres, the civil defence office said, most of whom were in Bicol as residents fled their homes after floodwaters reached as high as the roofs of bungalow houses.