Houses are damaged as typhoon Phanfone made landfall in Leyte province, the Philippines, on December 25 (Photo: AFP/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Typhoon Phanfoneleft at least 16 people dead in the Philippines as of December 26 morning afterthe monster storm roared ashore on Christmas Day.
Most of the fatalities were reported in Leyte, Iloilo and Capiz provinces,according to the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
The Christmas typhoon, known locally as Typhoon Ursula, hit the Philippineswith winds of up to 120 kph and gusts of 150 kph, heavy rain and flooding. Amongthe worst hit were Samar island, Tacloban city, Capiz province, Aklan province,the northern area of Iloilo province and Antique province.
More than 16,000 people spent the night in evacuation centres as the typhoonblew in with monster wind that tore roofs off houses, schools, commercial andgovernment buildings, felled trees and electric posts.
Thousands more who weretrying to get home for Christmas were stranded at ports in the region after theCoast Guard shuttered shipping as the typhoon’s powerful winds began to make seatravel dangerous on December 23.
Domestic airlines serving routes to the Visayas cancelled 40 flights due to thetyphoon.
As of December 25 afternoon, the typhoon had made seven landfalls in Visaya andMimaropa provinces.
The Philippines is thefirst major landmass facing the Pacific typhoon belt, and is hit by an averageof about 20 major storms a year. Many of the storms aredeadly, and they typically wipe out harvests, homes and infrastructure, keepingmillions of people perennially poor./.
VNA
