Five Die in Philippines Typhoon

Sunday, October 4, 2009, 08:20

Reuters

A powerful typhoon moved out to sea this morning after slamming into the remote northeastern Philippines and killing five people, but damage and flooding, while extensive, was less than feared.

Typhoon Parma, the strongest typhoon to hit the country since 2006, was north of the main Luzon island and moving northwest at 9 km per hour (6 mph), the weather bureau said.

It had weakened, with maximum sustained winds of 120 kph and gusts of up to 150 kph, but authorities in Taiwan have issued a warning to sailors as Parma was likely to enter its southern waters in the next day or two.

"The destruction in our infrastructure and agriculture is huge," said Alvaro Antonio, the governor of the northern Cagayan province that bore the brunt of the storm. "Wide areas are still under water, including ricelands about to be harvested."

The system brought rain across Luzon on Saturday but not as heavily as feared, especially along the densely populated west coast where floods in and around Manila from Typhoon Ketsana eight days ago killed nearly 300 people.

Officials had feared rain would spark fresh floods in Manila since reservoirs and dams around the capital are full and the sewage system is inundated with mud and rubbish brought by last week's deluge.

Fallen trees and floods cut off roads in Cagayan and neighbouring Isabela province. Soldiers, in rubber boats and armed with chain saws, started to clear roads and rescue marooned communities, officials said.

Mr Antonio said many areas remained inaccessible due to power outages and disruption in communications. "Winds are still strong, but no more rains. Our relief works are ongoing," he said.

About 5,000 people remained in temporary shelter areas. More than 130,000 people in the country's eastern seaboard had fled their homes ahead of typhoon Parma.

At least three people were killed in Isabela and two in the central Bicol region, where Parma had swept through earlier in the week.

Local government officials reported more than 100 million pesos ($2.1 million) in crop damage, particularly in rice and corn farms in Isabela and Cagayan.

Arroyo declared a nationwide calamity on Friday to allow local governments to access emergency funds and cap the prices of essential goods. She also ordered troops to evacuate more than 100,000 people from areas at risk from the typhoon.