This is the heartwarming moment a one-month-old baby was rescued as super typhoon Rai battered the Philippines on Thursday December 16.

Footage shows the heroic workers from the Philippine Coast Guard holding up the basin containing the infant as they waded through chest-deep waters in Cagayan de Oro City.

They shielded the infant with an umbrella and wrapped it with a blanket to protect it from the cold weather as the storm caused torrential floods and powerful winds in the country.

Rescuers took the infant to a nearby evacuation centre where they were re-united with the family. They are now safe and sheltering from the worsening typhoon.

A rescue service spokesman said the baby was saved ‘during the height of the flooding’ in the village of Tablon.

They added: ‘Using a plastic tub and umbrella, the baby was wrapped in a blanket evacuated to keep out the rain as Coast Guard team traversed the chest-deep floodwaters caused by the typhoon.’

State weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said that ‘heavy to torrential’ rains were expected over the south-central parts of the Philippines until Friday.

Typhoon Rai made its first landfall in Siargao Island in Surigao del Norte province 1:30 pm local time. It made a second landfall in the Dinagat Islands at 3:10 pm.

Storm signal warning 4, the most severe in the country’s four-tiered weather alert system, has been hoisted over the provinces of southern Leyte, eastern Bohol, Dinagat Islands, and Surigao del Norte.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said Typhoon Rai may become a Category 5 hurricane or super typhoon, possibly reaching speeds of up to 260 kph.

Tens of thousands of residents in flood and landslide-prone rural areas have been evacuated by local government units as they brace for the powerful typhoon.