Flooded streets in aftermath of Typhoon Rai

Rai, which at one point intensified into a category 5 storm, the highest classification, toppled power and communication lines, complicating disaster response and efforts to collect information from typhoon-hit areas.

Disaster officials could not yet give a complete damage assessment but were not expecting major devastation based on initial data gathered.

"It is not expected to cause massive damage compared to typhoons of the same strength previously," Casiano Monilla, an assistant secretary at the Office of the Civil Defense, told a media briefing.

Rai, which saw winds of up to 195 km (121 miles) per hour before hitting land on Thursday, has damaged homes and displaced more than 300,000 people as it passed through the western portion of Visayas and mainland Palawan.

It has been downgraded to a category 3 storm, according to Tropical Storm Risk, and is expected move out the country by Saturday.