The storm triggered landslides and heavy rains that flooded much of the northern Philippines overnight Monday. It killed at least 14 people and forced authorities to suspend classes and government work in the densely populated capital region.

Tropical Storm Yagi hit the city of Casiguran in northeastern Aurora Province on Monday afternoon, with winds gusting to 85 km/h (53 mph) and winds gusting to 105 km/h (65 mph), according to the weather bureau.

The storm, locally called Enteng, picked up speed and moved northwest at 20 km/h toward the country’s northernmost provinces. It was forecast to continue to intensify, possibly becoming a typhoon, before moving toward southern China over the next two days, the weather bureau said.

At least 14 people died, mostly due to landslides and drowning, authorities said.

On Monday, a landslide hit two small huts on a hillside in Antipolo city in Rizal province, just west of the capital, killing at least three people, including a pregnant woman. Four other villagers drowned in swollen streams, Enrilito Bernardo Jr., a disaster mitigation officer in Antipolo, told The Associated Press by phone.

“The streams overflowed and part of the hillside collapsed due to heavy rains,” Bernardo said.

Landslides and floods claim lives across the region

Four residents died in separate landslides in the central city of Cebu and northern Samar province. Three others died in the eastern city of Naga — two by drowning and one by electrocution, officials said.

Storm warnings were issued across much of Luzon, the country’s most populous region, including metropolitan Manila, where schools at all levels and most government work were suspended due to the storm.

Along the crowded banks of the Marikina River on the capital’s eastern outskirts, a siren sounded this morning to warn thousands of residents to prepare to evacuate in case the river continues to rise and overflows due to heavy rains.

In the provinces of Cavite, south of Manila, and Northern Samar, in the central part of the country, the Coast Guard used rubber boats and ropes to rescue and evacuate dozens of villagers who were submerged in water up to their waists and chests, the Coast Guard said.

Stormy weather caused a collision of ships

Sea travel was temporarily halted at several ports affected by the storm, stranding more than 3,300 ferry passengers and cargo workers. Several domestic flights were also suspended due to the storm.

The M/V Kamilla training ship, which was anchored at the capital’s Navotas port, was struck by another vessel that lost control due to heavy waves. The Kamilla’s bridge was damaged and later caught fire, prompting 18 cadets and crew members to abandon the ship, the Philippine Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard said a passing tugboat rescued 17 people who abandoned the vessel, while one swam to safety.

Heavy rains also caused water levels at the Ipo Dam in Bulacan province, north of Manila, to rise to near flood levels, prompting authorities to release a minimal amount of water on Monday that they said would not threaten villages downstream.

About 20 typhoons and storms hit the Philippines every year.

The archipelago lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a region stretching along most of the Pacific Ocean’s rim that is prone to frequent volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, making the Southeast Asian country one of the most disaster-prone in the world.

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the world’s strongest recorded tropical cyclones, killed or left more than 7,300 people missing, razed entire villages, sank ships inland and displaced more than five million people in the central Philippines.