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Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Typhoon lashes northern RP: 13 dead
MANILA -- Powerful Typhoon Paeng (international codename: Cimaron) battered the northern Philippines on Monday, killing at least 13 people in a barrage of landslides, uprooted trees and flooding, officials said.
Cimaron, the second major typhoon to hit the north in as many months, packed maximum winds of 175 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 210 kph when it came ashore.
It was forecast to exit the region in the direction of Vietnam later Monday.
Winds had dropped to 120 kph, with gusts up to 150 kph, by midday, although forecasters said it was likely to intensify again over open water.
Five people were reported drowned or killed by falling trees and 15 injured in the coastal town of Dinapigue in Isabela province.
Mayor Renato Candido said 90 percent of the houses were damaged in the town of 5,000 residents.
Police in Isabela, about 330 kilometers northeast of Manila, also reported that a 29-year-old farmer drowned when his boat overturned amid strong currents.
Another three people drowned in the town of Kasibu, in Neuva Vizcaya province, while landslides killed a four-year-old girl in Bugias, a mountain town in Benguet province, and a 53-year-old man in nearby Kalinga province.
A woman and her six-year-old son drowned Sunday night in Aurora province when their hut atop a riverbank was swept away by strong currents at the height of the typhoon's fury, said village leader Tito Padua. The power has been off in Aurora since Sunday night.
In Baguio city, 210 kilometers north of Manila, where the eye of the typhoon passed Monday, a landslide buried a house, injuring a mother and her two daughters, said fire official Senior Superintendent Carlito Romero.
Two towns were cut off by floods -- Jones in Isabela and Tuao in nearby Cagayan province.
Nearly 30 northern and northeastern provinces were placed under a storm alert.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, on a visit to China, called for prayers Sunday as she ordered schools and government work suspended. Domestic flights to the north were canceled.
Although the typhoon did not appear to be drenching the mudslide-prone area as badly as feared, rising rivers made at least five bridges impassable. Officials said water was released from at least one major dam to prevent overflowing.
The typhoon threatened commemorations for All Saints' Day on Wednesday, a public holiday when millions travel to cemeteries to remember their dead, some leaving days in advance for outlying provinces. Officials warned people to cancel trips to threatened areas.
Cimaron is a Philippine word for wild ox.
Last month, Typhoon Milenyo (international codename: Xangsane) left 230 people dead and missing as it ripped through Manila and neighboring provinces. About 20 typhoon and tropical storms lash the country each year. (AP)
(October 31, 2006 issue)
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