Typhoon kills 2 in Philippines, closes Manila airport
Manila, Philippines - Typhoon Kammuri killed at least two people in the Philippines on Tuesday as it tore roofs of houses and forced the international airport in Manila to shut down.
The storm roared ashore late on Monday and passed south of Manila - home to 13mn people - and thousands of athletes at the regional Southeast Asian Games.
As the typhoon was exiting the Philippines it hit one last major landmass, the central island of Mindoro, where one man was crushed by a falling tree and another killed by a flying piece of lumber, police said.
Ahead of the storm’s arrival a 33 year old man was electrocuted on Monday while securing a roof against the winds, which by late Tuesday weakened to a maximum of 140km per hour.
Authorities were still assessing the storm’s impact, but a small local airport was seriously damaged, many power poles toppled and homes were battered. “A lot of trees fell... There were a lot of roofs flying during the typhoon too,” said Junie Castillo, a disaster officer in one of the areas first hit.
Due to the high winds, Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport was ‘closed for operations’, general manager Ed Monreal said. Nearly 500 flights were cancelled, and officials warned passengers not to come to the airport.
Abou t 340,000 people had been evacuated in the central Bicol region. The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, killing hundreds and putting people in disaster-prone areas in a state of constant poverty. The country’s deadliest cyclone on record was Super Typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in 2013.
There were a lot of roofs flying during the typhoon
Junie Castillo