Typhoon Xangsane batters Philippines
Typhoon Xangsane unleashed fierce winds and rains as it slammed into the northern and central Philippines today, killing at least seven people and shutting down the capital amid widespread floods and damage, officials said.
The Manila airport general manager cancelled all flights around noon (0500 BST) because of power outages.
Gale force winds toppled trees and heavy downpours triggered landslides, blocking some provincial roads. The typhoon also shut schools, ferries and the country’s financial markets, and forced officials to suspend two commuter trains in metropolitan Manila.
In Antique province on central Panay island, three people were killed, including a drunk man who fell into a river, a nine-year-old boy and an electrician, said acting governor Eduardo Fortaleza.
A 16-year-old girl was crushed to death by a fallen tree in Lucena city in Quezon province, southeast of Manila.
Fortaleza said rescue workers evacuated about 100 residents who were trapped on an islet in the middle of a raging river in Barbaza town early today.
A girl and an elderly man were crushed to death when the wall of an adjacent abandoned warehouse collapsed on their houses in suburban Muntinlupa, officials said.
In the financial district of Makati, the steel frame of a billboard fell on a bus, a van and a taxi, killing the van driver and injuring the driver of the taxi, police said.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was trapped by the typhoon at the northern Clark economic zone. She tried to return to Manila in the midst of the storm to preside over a meeting of the National Disaster Co-ordinating Council, but was forced to turn back, the government-run Radyong Bayan said.
Strong winds toppled a row of trees on Manila’s bayside boulevard and knocked down billboards near the US and Japanese embassies, blocking traffic. Workers used chain saws to clear the roads amid howling winds and blinding rain.
Some residents in flooded areas ferried people across streets under knee-deep water on makeshift rafts, charging about 20 pesos (about 30c) per person.
The typhoon packed maximum winds of 81 miles per hour and gusts of up to 100 mph when it made landfall overnight in the central Bicol region, where it knocked down electricity in five provinces. It weakened into a storm with 69mph winds but picked up speed by 11mph or 12mph as it passed over Manila.
It was the strongest typhoon to directly hit Manila in 11 years. In November 1995, the 163mph super typhoon Angela battered the Philippine capital after slicing through central provinces, leaving 936 people dead.
Elsewhere, more than 4,000 ferry passengers were stranded after the coast guard banned vessels from leaving ports.
In Arteche in Eastern Samar province, 344 miles southeast of Manila, the authorities reported 44 houses were destroyed and 56 damaged. There were no reports of casualties.
Authorities also closed the financial markets in Manila today.
