Typhoon Mitag slammed the northeastern Philippines in the weekend killing
10 people, destroying homes and flooding rice farms. On Monday it was heading out
to the sea.
The victims drowned in the eastern provinces of Camarines
Sur and Camarines Norte, CNN reports.
Afterwards Mitag headed towards the coastal town of Palanan, in Isabela
province.
Mitag, a category 1 typhoon, hit the Philippines
late Sunday with winds up to 74 mph at its center. It didn’t directly hit central
Bicol region, where 300,000 people were evacuated.
On Monday two villagers from the northern mountain province of Apayao, were reported missing when their
house was swept away by river currents.
In Isabela province, with a population of over one million
people, the typhoon flooded at least 50 villages.
According to officials most of Isabela province had no power
and that a swollen river engulfed 10 houses in Ilagan, provincial capital.
According to Gov. Alvaro Antonio, in the Cagayan province
power posts were knocked down by trees cutting electricity in the whole
province.
The rice industry of the province suffered losses.
Antonio said: "We were just one or two weeks away from
harvest time. I'm afraid we've lost everything to the flood and strong winds.”
Losses of $2.5 million were estimated by the Agriculture
Department.
In the resort town of Pagudpud,
in northern Ilocos Norte province, a road was covered by a landslide late
Sunday. Buses and cars were blocked, but no injuries were reported.
Mitag is one of the 13 typhoons that hit the Philippines
this year.
Hagibis, a tropical storm, was expected to land in the
western Philippine province
of Palawan on Tuesday.
Warnings were sent out to police, troops and agencies that
respond to disasters to get ready again for Hagibis. In the Philippines'
Tagalog language, Hagibis means "rapidity.”
According to forecaster Frisco Nilo, Mitag and Hagibis were
affecting each other.
Forecasters are also monitoring a new area that shows low
pressure and that could develop into a storm in the Pacific
Ocean.
