MANILA: Tropical storm Saola has intensified into a super typhoon, the Philippine weather bureau said on Sunday, raising the possibility of heavy rain and powerful winds hitting important rice and corn growing areas in northern provinces. Saola, with maximum winds of up to 185 kph near its centre and gusts of up to 230 kph, was over coastal waters of Isabela province early on Sunday, the bureau said in a bulletin. Heavy rainfall was expected later on Sunday and on Monday in the provinces of Isabela, Cagayan, Ilocos and the mountainous Cordillera region, raising the risk of flooding and landslides, the weather bureau said. These provinces are among the country's biggest rice, corn and vegetable producers.