Leon may leave extensive damage in Batanes 

Super typhoon Leon is now headed to Taiwan, and while it didn’t make landfall in Batanes, its center winds of 195 kph and gust of up to 240 kph that spawned up to 12 meters of storm surges will likely leave the Philippines’ northernmost island group extensively damaged. Even as Leon moves away from Batanes, PAGASA—in its 5 a.m. weather bulletin—has kept Signal 4 over the islands as wind with speeds greater than 118 kph up to 184 kph may be expected in at least 12 hours. Winds of that velocity could snap trees, remove roofs off houses, devastate agriculture, and destroy high-risk structures.