MANILA -- A storm that began as a frighteningly powerful typhoon started to blow away from the Philippines Tuesday, after leaving at least 21 people dead and forcing more than a million into shelters.
State weather forecasters lifted on Tuesday all storm signals as Tropical Depression Ruby (Hagupit) continues to lose strength while blowing into the West Philippine Sea.
Ruby dissipated into a tropical depression after crossing Lubang Island, 135 kilometers (km) southwest of Manila, and was blowing into the West Philippine Sea, forecasters said.
The typhoon is packing 45 kilometers per hour, moving west at 13 kph, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said in its 11 a.m. bulletin.
"Ruby and the northeast monsoon will cause rough to very rough sea conditions over the seaboards of Luzon. Fisherfolks and those using small sea craft are advised not to venture out over the said seaboards," Pagasa said.
Batangas, the last major province lashed by Ruby overnight, has so far not reported any casualties or major damage, echoing similar assessments from many central Philippine provinces spared of major losses.
"With God's grace, there are zero casualties and no injuries because we were able to prepare," said Mayor Rodolfo Manalo of Batangas' idyllic San Juan town, a flood-prone coastal community popular for its beach resorts, where more than 2,800 villagers fled to a public gymnasium before the storm slammed ashore.
Many of the archipelago's central provinces were still reeling from last year's monster Typhoon Ruby, which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing and a massive trail of destruction, fueling worries about Ruby as it approached from the Pacific with menacing gusts of 250 kilometers per hour (kph) last week.
Those concerns meant more than a million people readily fled from villages in the path of Hagupit, Filipino for "smash" or "lash, into government emergency shelters.
Ruby left at least 21 people dead, many of whom drowned in Eastern Samar province, where the typhoon made its first landfall, according to the Philippine Red Cross. The government disaster-response agency has reported only 3 deaths, saying it was still verifying other reported casualties.
The fatalities were reported in the provinces of Cebu, Biliran and Samar.
Ruby displaced more than two million people and damaged P1 billion worth of agricultural infrastructure, crops and farmlands in Bicol, Western and Eastern Visayas.
Although Hagupit blew in from the Pacific with enormous force, seasonal cold winds blowing down from China deprived it of the warm and humid seas where it draws power. The typhoon, the 18th to batter this disaster-prone country this year, slowly fizzled out. (AP/Sunnex)