Super Typhoon Kong-rey lashed homes with rain as it edged toward the Philippines today.

Footage shows the downpour battering Baggao town in Cagayan province in the country's northern region at around 10 am local time on October 30.

The Cagayan Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office said at least 5,000 people have fled to evacuation centres to take shelter from the super typhoon.

State weather agency PAGASA said Kong-rey, locally known as Leon, intensified into a full-blown super typhoon today, October 30.

It is forecasted to skirt the northern tip of the country, moving northwestward across the Philippine Sea until it makes landfall on Taiwan's eastern coast on October 31 afternoon.

The agency said: 'This super typhoon will be near or at peak intensity during its closest point of approach to Batanes. The landfall of Leon over Taiwan will result in a continuous weakening trend for the rest of the forecast period.'

Kong-rey was expected to leave the Philippine monitoring zone on Thursday or Friday, PAGASA said.