Qa'da 10, 1431, Oct 18, 2010, SPA -- Torrential rain battered the northern Philippine island of Luzon on Monday as the Typhoon Megi slammed into the country. Megi, also known as Typhoon Juan, made landfall near Sierra Madre on Luzon, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical & Astronomical Services Administration. About 1 p.m. (1 a.m. ET), the storm was about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southeast of Tuguegarao City and had maximum sustained winds of about 190 kph (118 mph), with gusts of up to 225 kph (140 mph). When Megi made landfall around 11:35 a.m. Monday, it had maximum sustained winds of about 225 kph (140 mph) and gusts of up to 260 kph (162 mph). CNN meteorologist Ivan Cabrera said the typhoon is the strongest storm on the planet since 2005, when Hurricane Wilma passed over south Florida in the United States. Megi is also the strongest storm in the Pacific Ocean since Typhoon Flo in 1990. "Unfortunately, this is a part of the world where the infrastructure is quite fragile, the power grid is quite fragile and a lot of people live in quite basic houses," James Reynolds, a storm chaser who is on Luzon, told CNN Monday. Trees swayed and relentless rains inundated roads. Cabrera said parts of the Philippines could see 300 to 500 millimeters (11 to 20 inches) of rain. The typhoon could damage large amounts of agricultural land along its path. "Thousands of hectares are in danger of being ruined," Cabrera said.
