The death toll from Typhoon Hagupit rose to 21 on Monday, the
Philippine Red Cross said, after the storm tore through the country’s
central islands flattening homes and toppling trees and power lines.
The capital Manila shut down as Hagupit, now downgraded to a tropical
storm, took aim at the tip of the main island Luzon, just south of the
city of 12 million people.
“We have confirmed reports that 21 people died in Eastern Samar, 16
of them in Borongan,” said Gwendolyn Pang, secretary-general of the
Philippine Red Cross. Most of those killed were drowned in floodwaters,
she said.
But despite the jump in the number of reported dead, there was relief
that Hagupit had not brought destruction on the scale of super typhoon
Haiyan, which last year killed thousands of people in the same areas of
the central Philippines.
Hagupit roared in from the Pacific as a Category 3 typhoon on
Saturday night, churning across Samar island and on to the smaller
island of Masbate. Its effects were felt across the central Philippines,
including Leyte island and southern Luzon.
Learning lessons from Haiyan, which left more than 7,000 dead or
missing, the authorities had launched a massive evacuation operation
ahead of the storm, emptying whole towns and villages in coastal and
landslide prone areas.
“We saw that with preparation and being alert we prevented tragedy
and harm, we took our countrymen away from harm,” Interior Secretary
Manuel Roxas told a televised government disaster meeting in Samar. “It
is sad to hear news of deaths, but this is very low, way below what the
potential was.”
The Philippine weather bureau said Hagupit had weakened after making
three landfalls, but was still packing winds of 105 kph (65 mph), with
gusts of up to 135 kph (83 mph).
It was on course to hit Batangas province, around 90 km (55 miles)
south of Manila, on Monday evening, and would later cross Manila Bay
about 50 km west of the city.
Financial markets, schools and some public offices in the capital were closed and people in low-lying areas and near waterways were moved to shelters. Soldiers and emergency workers were put on standby to respond to any contingency.
Despite the relief that Hagupit had not been as devastating as was
feared, a major operation remained to clear debris and get supplies to
people left homeless or without power after the typhoon flattened houses
and tore down power lines.
Delia Monleon, mayor of Jipapad, a town of 7,000 people in Eastern
Samar province, said floodwaters were still preventing people from
getting to their homes.
“Our problem is power, food is a problem because boats cannot leave,”
said Monleon. “It was flooded yesterday so we can’t leave to look for
food,” she said.
Proceso Alcala, the farm minister, said initial reports put crop and
farm infrastructure damage at 1 billion pesos ($22 million). Rice crops
were most affected, with little damage to corn.
Alcala said the state grains agency was considering importing an
additional 600,000 tonnes of rice to boost buffer stocks after 48,000
tonnes of unmilled rice was damaged.
Mayor Emiliana Villacarillo of Dolores, in Eastern Samar, the area
where Hagupit first made landfall, said almost 100 percent of ricelands
in the town were submerged by floodwaters.
“Our farmers will have to go back to square one and plant again. We will need new seedlings,” she said.
Armed forces chief of staff General Gregorio Catapang told a news
conference two C-130 planes loaded with supplies, including food and
water, flew on Monday to Borongan, Eastern Samar, after soldiers had
cleared three airports, including Tacloban City.
More than 48,000 residents of Tacloban had fled to shelters, but
damage to the city that was devastated by Haiyan in November last year
was relatively minor.
“A lot of them have begun to go home. In Tacloban this morning, the
sun is shining, people just started going back,” said Orla Fagan,
spokeswoman and Asia-Pacific advocacy officer at the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
