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MANILA, Philippines: A typhoon has finally left the Philippines, officials said on Tuesday (May 28), killing at least seven people, mostly from flooding or fallen trees, and forcing the closure of several seaports, stranding thousands of passengers.
Typhoon Ewiniar struck the east coast of the Philippines late Friday and lingered over the archipelago for several days before moving northeast and away from the islands. All storm warnings were lifted on Tuesday.
The typhoon’s change in direction spared the densely populated capital, Manila, from a potentially destructive attack.
Ayuniya, known locally as Aghon, was last seen on Tuesday about 450 km east of the northern town of Basco in Bataan province with sustained winds of 130 km/h and gusts of up to 160 km/h, according to government forecasters.
At least six villagers were drowned or crushed by falling trees in hard-hit Quezon province in sudden flooding, provincial police said. In the southern province of Misamis Oriental, a villager was killed when a tree fell on the motorcycle taxi he was riding with his sister as they were on their way to school, police said.
Many villages were flooded. Some low-lying areas in Lucena, the capital of Quezon province, were inundated with water up to 2.4 meters high. Quezon Governor Angelina Chen and other provincial officials said the floods were partly caused by unusually hot summer weather that clogged drainage systems.
Many houses, including the governor’s residence, were destroyed by strong winds and heavy rain, said Ms. Chen, who said the typhoon forced her to seek shelter elsewhere while she oversaw the distribution of food and other aid to displaced villagers.
President Ferdinand Marcos said before flying to Brunei on Tuesday for a state visit that the typhoon had affected more than 26,700 people, many of whom fled to evacuation centers in five provinces. He said the typhoon had caused three airports and 29 seaports to be out of service and six towns to lose power.
The Philippine Coast Guard said more than 4,800 passengers, truck drivers and cargo helpers were stranded after seaports were closed after the typhoon hit southern and central provinces.
“Before the typhoon hit, we had already sent relief supplies to areas near the typhoon’s projected path, so everything was ready,” Marcos said.
About 20 typhoons and storms hit the Philippine archipelago each year, which is also located in an Asian region frequently hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, making it one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest typhoon on record, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in the central Philippines, flattened entire villages, swept boats inland, and displaced more than 5 million people.
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