At least three dead as typhoon causes devastation in the Philippines

At least three people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee their homes as a typhoon ripped through the central Philippines, the country's disaster agency said.

Typhoon Kalmaegi has flooded large areas, including entire towns on the island of Cebu.

Videos show people sheltering on rooftops, while cars and shipping containers have been swept through the streets.

A military helicopter deployed to assist relief efforts crashed in northern Mindanao island, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) said. It is not yet clear if there were any survivors of the crash.

The typhoon, locally named Tino, has weakened since making landfall early on Tuesday, but has continued to bring winds of more than 80mph (130km/h).

It is forecast to move across the Visayas islands region and out over the South China Sea by Wednesday.

"The situation in Cebu is really unprecedented," provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro said in a Facebook post.

"We were expecting the winds to be the dangerous part, but... the water is what's truly putting our people at risk," she said.

"The floodwaters are just devastating."

Don del Rosario, 28, was among those in Cebu City who sought refuge on an upper floor as the storm raged.

"I've been here for 28 years, and this is by far the worst we've experienced," he told the AFP news agency.

In a statement, the PAF said a rescue helicopter went down near Agusan del Sur on Mindanao island.

"Communication with the helicopter was lost, which immediately prompted the launch of a search and rescue operation," it said, adding that further details will be released "as they become verified".

In total, almost 400,000 people were moved from the typhoon's path, Rafaelito Alejandro, deputy administrator at the Office of Civil Defence, told a news conference.

The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year.

The latest comes barely a month after back-to-back typhoons killed over a dozen people and wrought damage to infrastructure and crops.

Super Typhoon Ragasa, known locally as Nando, struck in late September, followed swiftly by Typhoon Bualoi, known locally as Opong.

In the months before, an extraordinarily wet monsoon season caused widespread flooding, sparking anger and protests over unfinished and sub-standard flood control systems that have been blamed on corruption.

On 30 September, dozens were killed and injured after a powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the central Philippines, with Cebu bearing the brunt of the damage.