Typhoon leaves 1 dead, extensive damage in Philippine towns

MANILA: Typhoon Vongfong's ferocious wind and rain

left at least one dead and damaged hundreds of Coronavirus isolation facilities and homes, along with rice and corn fields in five hard-hit eastern towns alone, a governor said Friday.

Gov Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar province, where the typhoon slammed ashore, said some residents were weeping in desperation after their houses were destroyed or blown away in the towns he inspected.

One distraught villager who

lost his home slashed his wrist but was treated in time, he said.

A man bled to death after he was hit by glass shards in a school building he was trying to open to take shelter in, Evardone said.

The damage I saw was very extensive. The roof of one church was ripped off completely, its iron bars twisted badly by the typhoon, Evardone told The Associated Press by telephone.

He said that he and his group of military, police and

local authorities failed to travel to two towns hit by the typhoon, Jipapad and Maslog, due to fallen trees on the road. Cellphone and two-way radio communications to the farflung areas were down and Evardone appealed to the military to deploy a helicopter to inspect and carry out food drops if army troops were not be able to reach the area by Saturday.

In the outlying region of Bicol, northwest of Eastern Samar, more than 145,000 people were riding out the weakening typhoon in emergency shelters on Friday after a mass evacuation that was complicated and slowed by the Coronavirus.

Vongfong has weakened after hitting land Thursday and was blowing northwest toward the populous main northern island of Luzon, government forecasters said.