Super Typhoon Noru slams into the Philippines

Super Typhoon Noru slammed into the Philippines Sunday, battering the heavily populated main island of Luzon with strong winds and heavy rain that have forced hundreds of people to flee their homes.

The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometres an hour as it charged towards the archipelago nation after an unprecedented "explosive intensification", the state weather forecaster said.

Noru, the strongest to hit the Philippines this year, made landfall in Burdeos municipality on the Polillo islands, part of Quezon province, at 5:30 pm (0930 GMT). "We ask residents living in danger zones to adhere to calls for evacuation whenever necessary," Philippine National Police chief General Rodolfo Azurin said.