3 dead, 400,000 evacuated as fresh storm batters Philippines
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Philippine fishermen securing a boat on Sept 26 in anticipation of an approaching storm in Cavite city, south of the capital Manila.
PHOTO: EPA
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MANILA – The Philippines evacuated hundreds of thousands of people and confirmed at least three deaths on Sept 26 as a severe tropical storm battered the country still feeling the effects of Super Typhoon Ragasa
Civil defence officials in the Bicol region, south of the capital Manila, said three people had been killed as walls collapsed and trees were uprooted by Severe Tropical Storm Bualoi, which is sweeping west by north-west at sustained speeds of 110kmh.
Evacuees in one province took cover under pews as the roof of a church where they were sheltering was ripped by the storm.
“Around 4am, the wind destroyed the door, the windows and the ceiling of the church,” Mr Jerome Martinez, a municipal engineer in Masbate province, said.
“That’s one of the strongest winds I’ve ever experienced,” he said, adding that some children suffered minor injuries requiring stitches.
“I think more people will have to evacuate still, because many houses were destroyed and many roofs were blown away,” he said. “They are now blocking the streets and roads.”
Government officials also raised the death toll from Super Typhoon Ragasa – which swept across the northern Philippines this week on its way to China – to 14, with thousands still displaced.
Ragasa also killed at least 14 people in Taiwan and left 22 missing, after its torrential rain caused a barrier lake to burst.
Around 400,000 people have been evacuated, Mr Bernardo Alejandro, a Philippine civil defence official, said at a news briefing on Sept 26.
“We are clearing many big trees and toppled electric posts because many roads are impassable,” said Mr Frandell Anthony Abellera, a rescuer in Bicol’s Masbate City.
“The rain was strong, but the wind was stronger.”
The Philippine weather service said Severe Tropical Storm Bualoi could regain typhoon status as it moves back out over the South China Sea early on Sept 27.
Public anger
Videos shared on social media showed people using boats or trudging through waist-deep water to navigate flooded streets farther south in the Visayas islands in central Philippines.
Five fishermen were also missing in the Visayas after setting sail on Sept 23, according to coast guard station commander Kean Gaco, who said strong waves made an immediate search impossible.
“It is expected that there will still be strong rains in the coming hours,” government weather specialist Benison J. Estareja said.
Farther west, Oriental Mindoro province governor Humerlito Dolor said “the entire roof” of the province’s sports complex had been ripped off by Bualoi’s winds.
The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, putting millions of people in disaster-prone areas in a state of constant poverty.
Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful
The authorities warned on Sept 25 of a “high risk of life-threatening storm surges” of up to 3m with the coming storm.
Thousands also remain displaced in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Ragasa, which passed over the country’s far northern end and killed at least nine people earlier in the week.
The storms come as public anger seethes over a scandal involving bogus flood-control projects believed to have cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
Thousands took to the streets on Sept 21 to vent their anger, with the peaceful demonstrations later overshadowed by street battles that saw police vehicles set ablaze and the windows of a precinct headquarters shattered. AFP
