A massive cleanup is under way across coastal parts of the Philippines after a devastating typhoon swept over the island nation, killing at least 21 people, flooding towns and damaging crops.

Emergency workers and residents in the northern Philippines struggled Wednesday to reach villages stranded by floods. Officials said efforts to find dozens of people still missing are being hampered by bad weather.

Typhoon Nesat made landfall Tuesday on the eastern coast of the main island of Luzon, and moved across the island with sustained winds of up to 140 kilometers an hour. The heavy winds downed trees and caused huge waves that crashed over seawalls in Manila Bay, flooding a hospital, several businesses and the U.S. embassy.

Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes ahead of the storm. However, schools, transit services, financial markets and government offices that were forced to shut down resumed operations on Wednesday.

The typhoon has moved over the South China Sea toward northern Vietnam and southern China.

Meanwhile, Philippine forecasters say a tropical storm brewing in the Pacific Ocean is on track to make landfall on Luzon later this week.