Casiguran is a remote fishing town of 31,000 people. Koppu remained near-s tionary for seven hours and whipped the area with gusts of up to 210kph "Koppu tore off roofs of homes made of light materials. Rivers overflowed and the roads to the area are blocked by downed power pylons and trees," Nigel Lontoc, the deputy civil defence director for the region said. ABS-CBN network aired footage of a hospital building with its roof ripped off and houses torn down near Baler, the provincial capital that draws surfers from around the world. Mr Lontoc also said the authorities cancelled a surfing competition in Baler for the weekend and ordered about 2,000 participants to remain indoors. By late morning the state weather service said the typhoon's intensity had weakened slightly to gusts of 185kph while moving northwest over the Pantabangan Dam in the southern foothills ofthe Cordil lera, the country's largest mountain range. Despite the storm weakening, the authorities warned heavy rains could trigger flash floods and landslides in the region, home to more than 1.6 million