MANILA, Philippines — Powerful winds toppled power poles and trees today in the northern Philippines as the second typhoon in eight days bore down on the country. Farther north, Taiwan began evacuating villages also in the path of the storm.

The Philippines is still reeling from last Saturday's typhoon that caused the worst flooding in 40 years, killing 288. Officials said Typhoon Parma was no longer headed for the same heavily populated regions devastated by the earlier storm.

But heavy rain was falling across a swath of Luzon that is still flooded, and violent winds were battering far-north provinces.

Trees were uprooted and power pylons toppled in the provincial capital of Tuguegarao, local government official Bonifacio Cuarteros told The Associated Press by telephone. In neighboring Isabella, gusting winds knocked a rider off his motorcycle in the street, and trees and billboards were also blown down.

"We pray that we won't have a worse outcome, but with this kind of situation, we cannot really say," Cuarteros said.

Parma was due to strike the Philippines' northeastern tip sometime after dark today, the national weather bureau said.

Senior forecaster Prisco Nilo warned that heavy rains could trigger landslides and flooding, and strong winds could also create tidal surges "similar to a tsunami" along the eastern coast.

Manila was no longer at risk of a new deluge, said chief government forecaster Nathaniel Cruz. The storm's sustained winds also eased to 108 mph, down from 121 mph yesterday.

"It is good news, especially for those whose houses are still under water," Cruz said at a briefing today. "But (108 mph winds) can still uproot trees and destroy houses and blow down roofs."

Schools, many used as evacuation and relief operation centers, were shut all week. Some areas remain flooded while others, including Marikina in eastern Manila, are mired in as much as two feet of mud.

"It's a big help; we weren't ready for another catastrophe," Marikina Mayor Marides Fernando said.

Most of the municipality's 10,000 remaining evacuees may be home before Monday, allowing schools to reopen.

The danger was easing in provinces south of the capital. In Albay province, governor Joey Salceda said he had ordered more than 76,000 people who had been evacuated from their homes in the past few days to be sent home.

In Catanduanes, "the wind wasn't devastating," said Lt. Col. Romeo Basco, the local Army commander. "Even our squad tents didn't fly off. If it didn't affect our tents, more so houses."

Isabela province has prepared trucks, rubber boats and outriggers for rescue and relief operations, Vice Gov. Ramon Reyes said.

Tens of thousands of others were still huddled in relief shelters or with friends after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered people in flood- and landslide-prone areas in six provinces to be evacuated.

A nationwide "state of calamity" ordered by Arroyo was still in place, designed to let authorities respond quickly if another disaster occurs.

Typhoon Ketsana last Saturday caused the worst flooding in 40 years across the northern Philippines, damaging the homes of more than 3 million people.

Ketsana went on to hit other Southeast Asian countries, killing 99 in Vietnam, 14 in Cambodia and 16 in Laos.

Many places in Manila are still chest-deep in water, or covered in thick mud and garbage. In Quezon City, residents turned from cleaning up after Ketsana to trying to secure their belongings from the risk of more flooding.

"We do not know what to do or where we can go," said resident Bebang De Los Santos. "We don't have a way out and this is the only place that is safe, but we don't have any shelter."

One danger in Manila was posed by Lake Laguna, which rose more than 3.3 feet as Ketsana passed and was in danger of spilling over into districts housing some 100,000 people if there is much more rain, said Ed Manda, general manager of the Laguna Lake Development Authority.

In Taiwan, officials started evacuating villages in the southern county of Kaohsiung, where a typhoon in August triggered flash flooding that killed about 700, said local official Lin Chun-chieh.