Typhoon floods villages, rips off roofs and damages 2 domestic airports in northern Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Typhoon Yinxing battered the northern Philippines with floods and landslides before blowing away from the country on Friday, leaving two airports damaged and aggravating a calamity caused by back-to-back storms that hit in recent weeks.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from Yinxing, the 13th major storm to hit the disaster-prone Southeast Asian archipelago this year.

The typhoon, locally called Marce, was last tracked over the South China Sea about 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of the northern Philippine province of Ilocos Norte with sustained winds of up to 150 kilometers (93 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 205 kph (127 mph), according to government forecasters. It is expected to weaken further before hitting Vietnam.

The typhoon flooded villages, toppled trees and electricity poles, and damaged houses and buildings in Cagayan province, where Yinxing made landfall Thursday afternoon, provincial officials said. More than 40,000 villagers were evacuated to safer ground in the province.

In the northernmost island province of Batanes, Gov. Marilou Cayco said Yinxing’s fierce winds and rain blew away roofs of houses and damaged seaports and two domestic airport terminals.

More details of damage, including in two northern mountain towns hit by landslides, were expected after provinces battered by the typhoon complete an assessment, officials said.

The new damage will complicate recovery efforts from two powerful storms that lashed the northern region in recent weeks.

Tropical Storm Trami and Typhoon Kong-rey left at least 151 people dead in the Philippines and affected nearly 9 million others, mostly in the northern and central provinces. More than 14 billion pesos ($241 million) in rice, corn and other crops and infrastructure were damaged.

Trami dumped one to two months’ worth of rain in just 24 hours in some regions. In the hardest-hit province of Batangas, south of Manila, at least 61 people died in floods and landslides.

More than 630,000 people were still displaced due to Trami and Kong-rey as of Thursday, officials said, including 172,000 who remained in emergency shelters as Yinxing blew across the country's mountainous north.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. decided not to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru next week to focus on recovery efforts, Communications Secretary Cesar Chavez said.

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages and caused ships to run aground and smash into houses in the central Philippines. The archipelago also lies in a region often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.

A resident passes by a damaged house after Typhoon Yinxing, locally called Marce, blew past Aparri town, Cagayan province, northern Philippines on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Noel Celis)

Residents riding a tricycle pass by toppled electrical posts caused by Typhoon Yinxing, locally called Marce, in Camalaniugan, Cagayan province, northern Philippines on Friday Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Noel Celis)

A man tries to clear a tree in front of his house after it was toppled by strong winds from Typhoon Yinxing, locally called Marce, in Gattaran, Cagayan province, northern Philippines on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Noel Celis)

A man tries to clear a tree trunk after it fell on the roof of his house after Typhoon Yinxing, locally called Marce, blows past in Gattaran, Cagayan province, northern Philippines on Friday Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Noel Celis)

Residents riding a tricycle pass by toppled electrical post caused by Typhoon Yinxing, locally called Marce, in Camalaniugan, Cagayan province, northern Philippines on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Noel Celis)

In this photo provided by the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office Cagayan, debris from damaged roof caused by Typhoon Yinxing are scattered beside an establishment in Sanchez Mira, Cagayan province, northern Philippines Friday Nov. 8, 2024. (Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Cagayan via AP)

In this photo provided by the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office Cagayan, soldiers and rescuers help clear an area from debris and toppled trees caused by Typhoon Yinxing in Sanchez Mira, Cagayan province, northern Philippines Friday Nov. 8, 2024. (Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Cagayan via AP)

In this photo provided by the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Lal-lo, toppled trees caused by Typhoon Yinxing block a road in Lal-lo, Cagayan province, northern Philippines Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (LGU Lal-lo via AP)

In this photo provided by the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Lal-lo, a resident wades along flooded areas caused by Typhoon Yinxing in Lal-lo, Cagayan province, northern Philippines Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (LGU Lal-lo via AP)

In this photo provided by Philippine Coast Guard, its members stand outside their damaged building due to Typhoon Yinxing in Santa Ana, Cagayan province, northern Philippines Thursday Nov. 7, 2024. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)

In this photo provided by the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Lal-lo, workers clear a tree that fell due to strong winds from Typhoon Yinxing nin Lal-lo, Cagayan province, northern Philippines Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (LGU Lal-lo via AP)

Typhoon floods villages, rips off roofs and damages 2 domestic airports in northern Philippines

Typhoon floods villages, rips off roofs and damages 2 domestic airports in northern Philippines

In this handout provided by the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Lal-Lo, workers clear a road from a tree that fell due to strong winds from Typhoon Yinxing, locally called Marce, in Lal-lo, Cagayan province, northern Philippines on Thursday Nov. 7, 2024. (LGU Lal-lo via AP)

A federal judge on Thursday struck down a Biden administration policy that aimed to ease a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens.

The program, lauded as one of the biggest presidential actions to help immigrant families in years, allowed undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply for a green card without first having to leave the country.

The temporary relief from deportation brought a brief sense of security to some 500,000 immigrants estimated to benefit from the program before Texas-based U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker put it on hold in August, days after applicants filed their paperwork.

Barker ruled Thursday that the Biden administration had overstepped its authority by implementing the program and had stretched the legal interpretation of relevant immigration law “past its breaking point.”

The short-lived Biden administration initiative known as “Keeping Families Together” would have been unlikely to remain in place after Donald Trump took office in January. But its early termination creates greater uncertainty for immigrant families as many are bracing for Trump's return to the White House.

Trump's election victory this week sets the stage for a swift crackdown on undocumented individuals after the Republican ran on promises of “mass deportation.” The president-elect energized his supporters on the campaign trail with a litany of anti-immigrant statements, including that immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the nation.

During his first term, Trump appointed Barker as a judge in Tyler, Texas, which lies in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a favored venue for advocates pushing conservative arguments.

Barker had placed the immigration initiative on hold after Texas and 15 other states, led by their Republican attorneys general, filed a legal challenge accusing the executive branch of bypassing Congress to help immigrant families for “blatant political purposes.”

Republicans argued the initiative created costs for their states and could draw more migrants to the U.S.

The policy would have applied to people who have been living continuously in the U.S. for at least 10 years, do not pose a security threat and have utilized the existing legal authority known as “parole in place” that offers deportation protections.

Those married to a citizen by June 17, the day before the program was announced, could pay a $580 application fee and fill out a lengthy application explaining why they deserve humanitarian parole. If approved, applicants would have three years to seek permanent residency and obtain work authorization.

It was not immediately clear Thursday whether anyone had received approval under the program, which only accepted applications for about a week before the judge placed it on hold.

Noncitizen spouses are already eligible for legal status but often have to apply from their home countries. The process typically includes a years-long wait outside of the U.S., which can separate family members with different immigration statuses.

FILE - President Joe Biden talks with the U.S. Border Patrol and local officials, as he looks over the southern border, Feb. 29, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas, along the Rio Grande. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)