MANILA: Typhoon Kalmaegi swept out of the Philippines yesterday after causing chest-deep floods in some rural areas but largely leaving the country unscathed, authorities said.
The storm, with winds of 160km an hour, struck the northeast of the main Philippine island of Luzon on Sunday , then moved west across land before heading into the South China Sea.
The typhoon inundated farmland, but there were no reports of lives lost, officials said. Kalmaegi, known locally as “Luis” was spotted 455kms west of Laoag City in Ilocos Norte province.
Thousands of people who were temporarily displaced were starting to return home, said Alexander Pama, the chief of a national rescue panel, adding that no casualty had been reported.
“Some areas in the north are still without electricity, like Kalinga and Apayao provinces, but our emergency workers are already working to restore power,” said Pama, the executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
Rescue officials were also getting reports of extensive damage to rice farms, he added, but declined to give estimates. “We are still assessing the actual damage, how many hectares were affected and how much was lost,” Pama added.
About a fifth of rice output and just under a third of corn production in the northeastern province of Isabela are at risk of being damaged or destroyed by the typhoon, its governor, Faustino “Bodjie” Dy, said.
Agencies
