A powerful storm hit the northern Philippines on Wednesday, toppling trees, knocking out power and dumping heavy rain as thousands sheltered with neighbours or in emergency evacuation centres.

Typhoon Doksuri was packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 175 kilometres (109 miles) an hour as it hovered over waters around Fuga Island, off the northern tip of the main island of Luzon, the state weather agency said in its latest update at 0000 GMT.

The agency warned of "violent, life-threatening conditions" as severe winds and heavy rain pounded the lightly populated region.

Doksuri had been a super typhoon as it swept across the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, but weakened as it neared the Philippines.

"The wind and rain were so strong overnight I could not sleep well," Rey Aguinaldo, a retired government official in the coastal municipality of Pasuquin in Ilocos Norte province, told AFP.

"When I got up today I saw fallen trees and broken branches outside. We have no electricity."

Around 12,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Cagayan province, including 431 in the Babuyan islands, following warnings of three-metre high storm surges, provincial disaster official Ruelie Rapsing told AFP.

Fuga is one of the five islands that make up the tiny archipelago.

Flooding has also been reported in the coastal municipalities of Lallo, Pamplona and Claveria.

Rapsing said some people sheltered with neighbours who had concrete houses, while others were taken to municipal halls.

"The roof of the Sanchez Mira municipal hall was blown off," Rapsing said.

"The windows of an evacuation centre there also broke so we had to move them to multi-purpose halls back in their villages."

There have been no reports of casualties.

Doksuri is expected to weaken further as it moves across the South China Sea towards southeastern China.

AFP