Via Yahoo! News Philippines, an AFP report: Typhoon Bopha smashes into Philippines. Excerpt:
Large parts of Mindanao were without power after supplies were shut down to cut the risk of fires and electrocutions, according to Liza Mazo, regional civil defence official.
"Power was lost before dawn. There were reports of powerful winds, high waves and possible storm surge threatening some coastal areas," she said.
"We are hoping and praying that there will be no casualties."
People living in the storm-hit area braced for the worst of the typhoon, the strongest cyclone to hit the Philippines this year.
"We have taken our pigs and chickens inside our house because their shed might be destroyed," 46-year-old shopkeeper Marianita Villamor of San Fermin town on Mindanao's east coast told AFP by telephone.
"The winds were howling and I could hear the trees falling to the ground since early this morning."
Villamor said her relatives who lived in a nearby coastal area had joined hundreds of other families who moved into temporary shelters including schools and other government buildings late Monday.
"I have not heard from then since because (mobile phone) signals have been on and off," she said. "I hope they are dry and safe."
The commercial centre of Cagayan de Oro, one of Mindanao's largest cities, was hit by flooding as rivers overflowed following heavy rain.
Schools were shut in Mindanao and across large areas of the central Philippines.
