At least 32,000 people fled their homes in the northern Philippines today as Typhoon Trami, which has already killed 14 people and is approaching Luzon, the country’s largest island, authorities said.

Torrential rains caused by the storm, which turned roads into rivers, resulted in entire villages being submerged under water and cars being swept away by rushing mudflows in the Camarines Sur region.

At least 32,000 people were evacuated from their homes, while the storm is headed towards the island of Luzon.

In the Bicol region, about 400 kilometers southeast of the capital Manila, sweeping floods complicated rescue operations, police said.

To help residents, rescuers crossed streets with water up to their chests.

“We sent police rescue teams, but they had difficulty entering some areas because of the heavy flooding and the rush of water,” Luisa Kaloubakib, a regional police spokeswoman, told AFP.

Eleven people drowned in the floods that swept through the town of Naga in Bicol, local police chief Erwin Rebellion told AFP.

An elderly woman drowned in Quezon province, southeast of the capital, while a toddler was killed when she fell into an overflowing canal, police said.

Another person was killed by a falling tree branch, the Manila Civil Protection office said.

As of 8:00 p.m. local time (3:00 p.m. Greek time), the eye of Trami was located 150 kilometers east of Isabela province, Luzon region, with winds reaching a maximum speed of 95 kilometers per hour, according to the weather service.

More than 500mm of rain has already fallen in the region in the last 24 hours, the most in a month.