Storm sets off floods and landslides in Philippines, leaving at least 14 dead

A storm set off landslides and unleashed pounding rains that flooded many northern Philippine areas overnight into Monday, leaving at least 14 people dead and prompting authorities to suspend school classes and government work in the densely populated capital region.

Tropical Storm Yagi slammed into Casiguran town in the northeastern province of Aurora Monday afternoon and gained strength with sustained winds of 85 kilometres (53 miles) per hour and gusts of 105 kph (65 mph), according to the weather bureau.

The storm, locally called Enteng, gained speed and was moving northwestward at 20 kph (12 mph) toward the country’s northernmost provinces. It was forecast to strengthen further, possibly becoming a typhoon, before blowing away toward southern China in the next two days, the weather bureau said.

At least 14 people died, mostly due to landslides and drownings, officials said.

A landslide hit two small shanties on a hillside in Antipolo city on Monday in Rizal province just to the west of the capital, killing at least three people, including a pregnant woman. Four other villagers drowned in swollen creeks, Antipolo’s disaster-mitigation officer Enrilito Bernardo Jr. told The Associated Press by telephone.

“The creeks overflowed and a part of the hillside gave in because of the heavy rains,” Bernardo said.

Four residents died in separate landslides in central Cebu city and Northern Samar province. Three others died in the eastern city of Naga — two by drowning and one due to electrocution, officials said.

Storm warnings were raised in a large swath of Luzon, the country’s most populous region, including in metropolitan Manila, where schools at all levels and most government work were suspended due to the storm.

Along the crowded banks of the Marikina River in the eastern fringes of the capital, a siren was sounded in the morning to warn thousands of residents to brace for evacuation in case the river water continues to rise and overflow due to heavy rains.

In the provinces of Cavite, south of Manila, and Northern Samar, in the country’s central region, coast guard personnel used rubber boats and ropes to rescue and evacuate dozens of villagers who were engulfed in waist- to chest-high floods, the coast guard said.

Sea travel was temporarily halted in several ports affected by the storm, stranding more than 3,300 ferry passengers and cargo workers, and several domestic flights were suspended due to the stormy weather.

A training ship, M/V Kamilla — which was anchored off the Navotas port in the capital — was hit by another vessel that veered out of control due to strong waves. Kamilla’s bridge was damaged and later caught fire, prompting its 18 cadets and crewmembers to abandon the ship, the Philippine coast guard said.

A passing tugboat rescued 17 of those who abandoned the ship and one swam to safety, the coast guard said.

Downpours have also caused water to rise to a near-spilling level in the Ipo dam in Bulacan province, north of Manila, prompting authorities to schedule a release of a minimal amount of water later Monday that they say would not endanger villages downstream.

About 20 typhoons and storms batter the Philippines each year. The archipelago lies in the “Pacific Ring of Fire,” a region along most of the Pacific Ocean rim where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur, making the Southeast Asian nation one of the world’s most disaster-prone.

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones in the world, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages, swept ships inland and displaced more than 5 million people in the central Philippines.

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Associated Press journalists Aaron Favila and Joeal Calupitan contributed to this report.