MANILA - Typhoon Rammasun cut across the Philippines and slammed into the capital on Wednesday, killing 11 people and prompting over 370,000 to evacuate.

Rescue officials said the typhoon also shut down financial markets, schools, and offices in Manila on Wednesday. This is considered the strongest storm to land in the Philippines this year, according to weather forecasters.

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The eye of the typhoon made its way to southern Manila as it barreled through the main island of Luzon. It also took down trees and electrical lines, resulting in blackouts and electrocutions.

Manila sustained minimal damage but fallen debris trapped some people in the southern city of Batangas, according to Philippine National Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon. Most of the evacuees who transferred to converted shelters and schools were from Albay, an eastern province first hit by Rammasun.

Debris, toppled electricity poles and fallen trees totally blocked major roads all over Luzon. Four provinces in the southeast declared a state of calamity to receive emergency relief funds from the local governments.

Around 85 percent of the regions supplied by power distributing giant Manila Electric Co in Luzon lost power. A company spokesperson added that the electricity is unlikely to be back in just a day.

Some areas of the Philippines are still starting to recover from the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, among the biggest cyclones to make landfall that hit the country in November. The said typhoon left over 6,100 people dead from massive sea surges and millions without homes.

Cyclone monitor Tropical Storm Risk put Rammasun at category-two on a five-category storm scale as it heads towards the South China Sea. In comparison, Haiyan was labeled a category-five storm.

Tropical Storm Risk predicted Rammasun would build strength to become a category-three storm in a few days as it heads for Hainan and picks up energy from the sea.

Typhoon Rammasun shut down foreign exchanges Philippine Stock Exchange and the Philippine Dealing System. Furthermore, flight carriers cancelled over 200 local and international flights as the storm entered the country.

Tagstyphoon Rammasun, Typhoon Glenda, Philippine typhoon