Typhoon hits Philippines, kills 10, displaces 370,000

A typhoon has killed at least 10 people in Philippines, hitting Manilla, the ountry’s capital hard, and causing the evacuation of about 370,000 people, while shutting down financial markets, offices and schools. rescue officials said on Wednesday.

Reuters reports on Wednesday, July 16, 2014, that major roads across Manilla were blocked by debris, fallen trees and electricity poles. The storm uprooted trees in the capital where palm trees lining major arteries were bent over nearly double by the wind as broken hoardings bounced down the streets.

A Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-200 suffered a hole on its left wing when wind gusts pushed the aircraft five metres across the tarmac at Manila airport, hitting equipment parked nearby, airport officials said.

The typhoon named “Rammasun” caused several electrocutions as a result of the power lines it toppled.

Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross, said his members were trying to rescue people trapped by fallen debris in Batangas City to the south where two people were electrocuted.

His words: "We have not received reports of major flooding in Metro Manila because the typhoon did not bring rain, but the winds were strong,"

 

The number of evacuated people had reached more than 370,000, mostly in the eastern province of Albay, the first to be hit by the typhoon, the disaster agency said. They were taken to schools, gymnasiums and town halls converted into shelters.

The storm brought storm surges to Manila Bay and prompted disaster officials to evacuate slum-dwellers on the capital's outskirts. More surges were expected as the storm headed west.

Philippines is yet to recover fully from Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,100 people and left millions homeless in November 2013. Typhoon Haiyan was one of the biggest cyclones known to have made landfall anywhere in the world.  

 

Typhoon Rammasun has now led to the closing of the Philippine Stock Exchange while more than 200 international and domestic flights have been cancelled.