Typhoon leaves 3 dead in the Philippines, heads towards Japan

MANILA - The first typhoon to lash the Philippines in 2024 killed at least three people, further gaining strength as it heads to Japan.

A seven-month-old baby and two others died on May 26 after they were hit by falling trees in Quezon, a province east of the capital Manila, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.

Typhoon Ewiniar, locally known as Aghon, also left thousands without electricity as strong winds knocked down power lines and shut nine plants, adding to the 12 that have been inoperative prior to the storm, according to the Department of Energy. The forced outage reduced power capacity by nearly 4,300MW.

Packing maximum sustained winds of 140 kmh, Ewiniar was forecast to hit the northern provinces of Cagayan and Batanes by May 28 before exiting Philippine waters early on May 30, the local weather bureau said.

It is forecast to move towards the south of Japan, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.

Ewiniar dumped heavy rain, causing flooding that forced more than 8,000 people to flee their homes across the Philippines’ most populous island, Luzon.

After making landfall on the central island of Samar late on May 24, the typhoon strengthened as it swept north-west to Luzon, where it hovered near the capital Manila. It dumped more than 200mm of rain over parts of Quezon in the 24 hours leading up to 8am on May 26, the state weather forecaster said.

More than 6,000 people were forced to leave their homes in the province, figures posted on the provincial government’s Facebook page show.

Floodwaters reached as high as 3m along the coast, and power was knocked out in most areas, said provincial disaster officer Mary Joy Adam, adding: “The rain is gone now, so we’re expecting the floods will start to subside anytime soon.”

In neighbouring Laguna province, officials said more than 2,000 people had sought shelter as over half of the 30 municipalities were flooded.

Photos shared by local government agencies on Facebook showed rescuers using inflatable boats to reach people stranded by the downpour.

Other photos showed large trees felled by strong winds that reached a maximum speed of 95km an hour as the storm headed north-east towards the Pacific Ocean.

About 20 storms and typhoons hit the country or its surrounding waters per year, damaging homes and infrastructure and killing hundreds of people.

The rainy season usually starts in June, but the authorities have warned it could be delayed by the El Nino weather phenomenon that has brought drought to swathes of the country. AFP