Tropical Storm Fengshen Causes 7 Deaths In Philippines

Manila: A tropical storm ravaged the northern and central Philippines over the weekend, killing seven people after forcing more than 22,000 people to evacuate from flood- and landslide-prone villages.

Tropical Storm Fengshen blew into the South China Sea late Sunday from the Philippines’ main northern province of Luzon. Government forecasters said there are currently winds of up to 65 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 80 kilometers per hour.

The government’s disaster mitigation agency said seven deaths were reported. About 14,000 evacuees had to leave their homes by Monday, the agency said.

A person drowned in the city of Roxas, Capiz province, on Saturday, as rising waters worsened flooding in several villages, authorities said.

Five people, including two children, died while they slept in the town of Pitogo in the eastern province of Quezon when a huge palm tree they had previously tried to fell for safety crashed into their hut early Sunday, provincial police Chief Romulo Albacea and other officials said.

State forecaster Glaiza Escullar said Fengshen, locally called Ramil, was predicted to blow towards Vietnam over the South China Sea.

The storm, the 18th tropical cyclone to hit the Philippine archipelago this year, was hit as the central and southern provinces were trying to recover from the impact of recent earthquakes that killed more than 80 people, displaced thousands and damaged more than 1,34,000 homes in central Cebu province alone, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said.

Located between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea, the Philippines is exposed to approximately 20 typhoons and storms every year. It is subject to frequent earthquakes and has nearly two dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.