At least 12 people were killed in the Philippines after Typhoon Haima wreaked havoc in the northern region of the country on Thursday, Reuters reported. Officials in Capital Manila confirmed the toll and said that this was the strongest storm to have hit the nation in the past three years. Meanwhile, China Central Television reported that 7,20,000 citizens have been evacuated from the South China province of Guangdong, after the storm made a landfall in the country on Friday.

The Philippines administration said they have yet to ascertain the extent of the damage caused by Haima. Authorities said thousands of hectares of farmland have been destroyed in the northern region of the country as the rain accompanying the storm left vast stretches of rice and corn fields submerged in water.

Ricardo Jalad, chief of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in Philippines, said that an eight of the victims were from the Cordillera region. Cagayan, where the storm made its landfall, was one of the worst affected in the region. Governor of the province, Manuel Mamba, said that around 50,000-60,000 hectares of rice fields were flooded in the typhoon. He said the storm brought back memories of the 2013 super typhoon Yolande that killed more than 6,000 people in the country and destroyed billions of pesos worth of property.

Hong Kong suspended all essential services on Friday as the storm approached the nation. Flights, schools, banks and other government services were shut for the day. The Hong Kong Observatory on Friday issued the third highest storm warning of level 8. “Members of the public should stay on high alert, stay away from the shoreline, and not to engage in water sports,” the observatory said, according to The Wall Street Journal.