Hanoi (VNA) – Torrential rains from storm Vamco lashed provincesin the Philippines’ main Luzon island on November 11, leaving one dead andthree missing.
The Office of Civil Defence, the state disaster management body, said threefishermen were reported missing in Camarines Norte province, southeast ofManila.
Television footage showed that many areas in Luzon are under water due to stormVamco, the 22nd tropical cyclone that hit the country this year.
The local media also reported a landslide in Albay province and a rockslide inCatanduanes, an island province in the Bicol region stricken by super typhoonGoni early this month.
Storm Vamco slammed the Philippines as reliefworkers scramble to help hungry villagers rendered homeless by Goni.
The Philippines evacuated thousands in the coastal villages due to possiblestorm surge and flash flood.
Vamco made landfall in Polillo Island inQuezon province on November 12 morning. PAGASA, the state weather bureau, saidthe typhoon packed sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour and gusts of upto 195 kilometers per hour.
Philippine officials urged people to be vigilant, warning the typhoon willbring destructive winds and intense with at times torrential rainfall in vastareas in Luzon, including Metro Manila, the Bicol region, the provinces ofAurora and Quezon, and parts of Eastern Samar province in the centralPhilippines.
Storm Vamco blew into the country 11 daysafter super typhoon Goni, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the country thisyear, left a trail of destruction and killed at least 22.
Located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippines is among the mostdisaster-prone countries in the world, including active volcanoes, frequentearthquakes, and an average of 20 typhoons a year, causing floods andlandslides.
The Philippines lost 463 billion PHP (roughly9.56 billion USD) in damage to natural disasters from 2010 to 2019, accordingto the Philippine Statistics Authority./.