Storm’s Philippine hit deadly, disastrous
MANILA, Philippines — Strong winds and rain from Typhoon Vongfong left at least one person dead and damaged hundreds of homes and coronavirus isolation facilities along with rice and corn fields in five hard-hit eastern towns, a governor said Friday.
Gov. Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar province, where the typhoon slammed ashore, said distraught residents wept after their houses were destroyed or blown away in the towns he inspected. One 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 said by telephone.
Videos and pictures of the devastation sent by Evardone showed several low-slung buildings and sports centers either destroyed or badly damaged with their roofs peeled off or deformed and their iron trusses bent. Villagers outside damaged houses yelled “help” in one video.
Evardone said he and a group of military, police and local authorities failed to reach two towns hit by the typhoon, Jipapad and Maslog, because of fallen trees on the road. Cellphone and two-way radio communications to the far-flung areas were down and Evardone appealed to the military to deploy a helicopter to inspect them and deliver food if troops are unable to reach the area by today.
Vongfong weakened into a severe tropical storm after hitting land and was blowing northwest toward the populous main northern island of Luzon, government forecasters said.