A resident holds onto his umbrella in strong wind as others stand by their wooden boats along the coastal area of Legaspi in Albay Province, the Philippines on Sunday, ahead of tropical storm Molave's expected landfall. Photo: AFP

Three people died and a dozen others are missing after a typhoon triggered flooding across the central Philippines, officials said Tuesday, with thousands still sheltering in evacuation centers. 

Typhoon Molave struck Sunday, inundating low-lying villages and farmlands, knocking down power lines and destroying hundreds of houses as it crossed the archipelago. 

The typhoon is now sweeping across the South China Sea toward Vietnam, the national weather forecaster said. 

AFP