Bulacan, Sept. 26 (BNA): Philippine authorities on Monday rushed to distribute aid to thousands of evacuees after Typhoon Noru made landfall in the capital and northern provinces, killing at least five people and inundating many areas.
Continuous winds of 185 kilometers (115 miles) per hour battered the main island of Luzon over the weekend, prompting authorities to close schools, government offices and the stock market until Monday, according to Reuters.
President Ferdinand Marcos ordered supplies to be airlifted and cleaning equipment to be provided to the worst-affected communities.
“The point at which we can step aside is when the majority of evacuees are already back home,” Marcus said at a news conference with disaster management officials on Monday, referring to the 74,000 people forced to flee to evacuation centers because of the storm.
Luzon, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy and nearly half of the country’s population of 110 million, has begun clean-up operations as floods begin to recede in the metropolitan area, officials said.
Five rescue workers were killed in Bulacan province, Governor Daniel Fernando told DZMM radio, with residents seen wading into deep water while some were stranded on rooftops.
Quezon Governor Helen Tan told DZRH that “many houses were destroyed, but all roads were passable and there were no landslides.” She said the local government has begun clearing fallen trees and other debris.
President Marcos, who will conduct an aerial inspection later on Monday, also ordered officials to provide emergency power supplies to two provinces north of the capital, Aurora and Nueva Ecija, which were left without power.
Nuru made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane, but weakened when it made landfall on Sunday night. The storm was heading over the South China Sea toward Vietnam, according to the state weather agency.
The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, experiences an average of 20 tropical storms annually. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded, killed 6,300 people.
HF