Typhoon hits Philippines; at least 6 reported dead
ILAGAN, Philippines — A strong typhoon blew across the northern Philippines on Tuesday, setting off landslides that left at least six dead and forced thousands to flee villages still recovering from a deadly storm last month, officials said.
Regional police Chief Superintendent Rolando Nana said authorities were attempting to verify a report that a landslide buried a government building under construction in Natonin in Mountain province, trapping more than 20 people.
Typhoon Yutu weakened considerably from its earlier super typhoon status before slamming into the Philippines’ northeastern Isabela province before dawn. It knocked down trees and power poles, and ripped roofs off houses and stores, officials said.
The storm weakened further as it blew across the Sierra Madre mountain range, and then barreled west through Nueva Vizcaya, Benguet and La Union provinces, where September’s Typhoon Mangkhut left more than 100 people dead and missing.
From La Union, Yutu began blowing out into the South China Sea, forecasters said.
Yutu’s sustained winds of 93 mph when it hit the Philippines were considerably weaker than the 180 mph registered earlier as it tore through the U.S. Pacific territory of the Northern Mariana Islands, where it knocked out power, destroyed homes and delayed elections.
Still, Yutu’s winds and rain set off landslides in the mountainous north and caused massive power outages in Isabela and outlying provinces, officials said.
More than 10,000 villagers moved to emergency shelters in several northern provinces. In Cagayan province, Gov. Manuel Mamba said by telephone that despite improving weather after the typhoon passed, he asked hundreds of villagers not to return immediately to their homes near a swollen river.