MANILA, Philippines — A powerful typhoon dumped heavy rains, triggered landslides and left at least 10 people dead and four missing in the northern Philippines, officials said today.
Typhoon Cha-hom was packing maximum winds of 75 miles per hour when it made landfall overnight in Pangasinan province, north of Manila. It rapidly weakened into a tropical storm after crossing the mountains of Cordillera and Sierra Madre, and continued to lose strength as it moved away from the country, forecasters said.
Nine people were killed in landslides in two villages in Ifugao province’s Kiangan town, popular for its mountainside rice terraces, the National Disaster Coordinating Council reported. The dead include children ages 10 to 15.
Another person died of a heart attack in northwestern Zambales province, and 10 people were injured during the storm, while another four were reported missing, NDCC said.
Several areas in Pangasinan were isolated by flooded roads. Authorities moved hundreds of residents to safety, radio reports said.
Electricity in the area was cut but later restored.
In central Iloilo province, a passenger vessel ran aground amid strong winds and big waves, but the coast guard rescued all 80 people aboard, Radio DZBB reported.
Another 1,000 passengers and 71 vessels were stranded in ports because of the storm, which forecasters said was moving east of the Philippines toward southern Japan.
Cha-hom, a word for a tree in Laos, is the second cyclone to hit the Philippines in a week. At least 27 people died and 55,000 were forced from their homes during last week’s storm that lashed the northeastern Philippines.
About 20 typhoons and storms hit the country each year, but forecasters said that they usually do not appear this early and that the extreme weather may have been caused by global warming.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
