14 people have been killed in a massive storm which brought destruction to the northern Philippines. A presidential adviser said Typhoon Mangkhut ripped through the Philippines’ main island of Luzon, and is now moving west towards China.

Almost all buildings in the city of Tuguegarao sustained some damage and communications were down in places.

Four million people were in its path, and thousands were evacuated amid warnings of 6m (20ft) storm surges.

Francis Tolentino, a political adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte, said up to 14 people were killed as a result of the storm.

Two rescuers were killed trying to help people trapped in a landslide. Unverified reports say the body of a young girl was found in the Marikina river, which flows through Manila.

The evacuation centre in the coastal town of Aparri is also said to have been destroyed and phone networks are down.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) billed the storm as the strongest tropical cyclone the world has faced so far this year.

Meanwhile, Weather forecasters warn of the risk of life-threatening flash flooding in parts of North and South Carolina, and Virginia, from storm Florence.

It has been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm but continues to soak the East Coast area with rain, downing trees and damaging homes.

It is slowly grinding over the eastern states, with winds of 65mph (105km/h).

Five deaths have been linked to the storm and thousands of people have been staying in emergency shelters. Evacuation warnings were issued for 1.7 million people in the region.