Super-typhoon exits earlier than expected as damage, toll assessed

ONE of the most powerful typhoons to ever hit the Philippines killed at least eight people as of late Thursday’s reporting, as ferocious gales and landslides destroyed tens of thousands of homes.

Super-typhoon Lawin (international name: Haima) struck late on Wednesday night with winds similar to those of catastrophic Yolanda ( international name: Haiyan) in 2013, which was then the strongest storm to strike the disaster- prone archipelago and claimed more than 7,350 lives.

Lawin then roared across mountain and farming communities of the northern regions of the main island of Luzon overnight, causing widespread destruction and killing at least eight people, authorities said.

“We were frightened because of the strong winds. There was no power, no help coming,” Jovy Dalupan, 20, told AFP as she sheltered at nightfall on the side of a highway in San Pablo, a badly damaged town of 20,000 people in Isabela province.

Ms. Dalupan, her two young daughters and husband were forced to flee to the highway along with their neighbors during the height of the storm when their shanty homes, made of plywood, were ripped apart.

“We were soaked when the roof flew off, even my little babies got drenched... all of our clothes were drenched. We have nothing to change into.”

Lawin hit coastal towns facing the Pacific Ocean with sustained winds of 225 kilometers an hour, and wind gusts of up to 315 kilometers.

It weakened overnight as it rammed into giant mountain ranges and by Thursday morning had passed over the western edge of Luzon and into the South China Sea, heading towards southern China.

The governor of Cagayan, a province of 600,000 people neighboring Isabela where Lawin made landfall, said the entire region was without power as he reported widespread destruction.

“Almost every house here has been damaged,” Governor Manuel Mamba told ABS-CBN television.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte, who was on a state visit to China, said on Wednesday night all possible preparations had been made for the storm, with tens of thousands of people evacuated.

“We only pray we be spared the destruction such as the previous times, which brought agony and suffering,” Mr. Duterte said in Beijing. “But we are ready. Everything has been deployed.”

About 10 million people across the northern parts of Luzon were at risk, according to the government’s disaster risk management council.

Authorities said two of those killed, aged 16 and 17, were buried in a landslide while sleeping in a house in Ifugao, a mountainous area that is home to stunning rice terraces that are listed by the United Nations as a World Heritage site.

Two other people were buried in a shanty in another mountainous region, the disaster risk council’s division in the northern Philippines reported. — reports by