Haima quits Philippines, leaving death, destruction
MANILA: Typhoon Haima blew out of the Philippines yesterday after pummelling its northern provinces and leaving at least eight people dead and more than 90000 displaced, officials said.
Haima made landfall in the province of Cagayan overnight, with winds of up to 225km/h, ripping off roofs, toppling trees and electric posts and bringing torrential rain.
It weakened after crossing the northern island of Luzon, with winds down to 150km/h and gusts of up to 185km/h, the weather bureau said.
The victims included a 48-yearold man who died when he was hit by a tree branch and a 70-year-old man who suffered a heart attack in an evacuation centre in the city of Palanan, officials said. Two construction workers were killed in a landslide in the province of Benguet, while two villagers were swept away in an overflowing river in the province of Ifugao.
The national disaster risk management office said it was verifying the reports of the other casualties.
More than 30 road networks were impassable due to floods, landslides and uprooted trees, but emergency teams were clearing the debris to reach the affected communities, the office said.
“Some provinces had a preventative shutdown of electricity to prevent incidents of electrocution,” the office said.
“There are reports of intermittent mobile communication lines.”
The weather bureau said Haima, the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines in three years, was moving west-north-west, away from the country, towards Hong Kong.
In 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms ever to make landfall, killed more than 6 000 people and left more than 1000 missing in the eastern Philippines. – dpa