Philippines shuts schools, scraps flights as Typhoon Co-May nears

The Philippines shut down schools and cancelled flights as typhoon-driven rains pounded the northern island of Luzon, a situation President Ferdinand Marcos called "the new normal."

Typhoon Co-May, upgraded from a tropical storm overnight, follows days of monsoon rains that have killed at least 19 people and left another 11 missing across the archipelago since July 18, according to the national disaster agency.

With maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometres (75 miles) per hour, the typhoon was expected to make landfall on the west coast in either La Union or Ilocos Sur province by Friday morning, the country's weather service said, according to AFP.

Children sitting in a basin react as they are pulled through a flooded area on Manila North Road following heavy rains. Reuters

Marcos said that climate change meant Filipinos needed to be thinking about how to adapt to a "new normal."

Around 70 domestic and international flights in the Philippines were cancelled Thursday due to the storms, the civil aviation authority said.

The government later announced that classes across Luzon would remain suspended through Friday.

Tens of thousands were evacuated across Manila earlier this week by floodwaters that swamped some neighbourhoods in waist-deep water and left residents of nearby provinces stranded and in need of rescue by boat.