Typhoon Noru has left a trail of destruction in northern Philippine provinces with at least eight people dead, including a group of rescuers who were scrambling to save villagers trapped in floodwaters.

SAN MIGUEL, Philippines -- Typhoon Noru left a trail of destruction in northern Philippine provinces on Monday with at least eight people dead, including a group of rescuers who were scrambling to save villagers trapped in floodwaters, officials said.

The most powerful typhoon to hit the country this year slammed ashore in eastern Quezon province on Sunday then weakened as it blew out into the South China Sea early Monday toward Vietnam, forecasters said.

Nearly 80,000 people were moved to emergency shelters, some forcibly, across the main Luzon island, disaster-response officials said.

The entire northern provinces of Aurora and Nueva Ecija, which were hit by the typhoon, remained without power Monday and repair crews were at work to bring back electricity, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla told President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

praised officials for evacuating tens of thousands of people before the typhoon hit, preventing more deaths, but expressed concern at how Noru and another storm that devastated central and southern provinces in December rapidly intensified into super typhoons.

From sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour (53 mph) on Saturday, Noru was a super typhoon just 24 hours later with sustained winds of 195 kilometers (121 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 240 kph (149 mph) at its peak late Sunday.