One dead as Koppu hits Philippines

epa04981882 A picture made available on 18 October 2015 shows stranded Filipino passengers during prayers inside a port terminal in the town of Tabaco, Albay province, southern Manila, Philippines, 17 October 2015. Typhoon Koppu slammed into the northern Philippines forcing thousands of people to flee their homes amid heavy rains and strong winds that could last up to three days, the disaster relief agency said. Koppu toppled trees and ripped off rooftops, while nearly 10,000 people evacuated their homes amid warnings of flash floods and storm surges up to three metres. EPA/ZALRIAN Z. SAYAT

Typhoon Koppu has weakened after blowing ashore with fierce winds in the northern Philippines, leaving at least one person dead and six others missing while displacing 16,000 villagers.

Army troops and police were deployed to rescue residents trapped in flooded villages in the hard-hit provinces of Aurora and Nueva Ecija, a nearby rice-growing province where floodwaters swamped farmlands at harvest time, officials said.

After slamming into Aurora’s Casiguran town early on Sunday, the typhoon weakened and slowed considerably, hemmed in by the Sierra Madre mountain range and a high pressure area in the country’s north, government forecaster Gladys Saludes said.

Howling winds knocked down trees and electric posts, leaving nine entire provinces without power while floods and small landslides made 25 roads and bridges impassable. Authorities suspended dozens of flights and sea voyages due to the stormy weather, and many cities cancelled classes on Monday.

By Sunday afternoon, the typhoon had veered toward the north from its westward course and was tracked over mountainous Nueva Vizcaya province with sustained winds of 150km/h and gusts of up to 185km/h, according to the government’s weather agency.

While weather had begun to improve in some towns, and villagers had started to clear roads of fallen trees and debris, Koppu was still packing a ferocity that could set off landslides and flash floods, officials said.

“There’s still danger,” Cayanan said. “We shouldn’t be complacent.”

A teenager was pinned to death on Sunday by a fallen tree, which also injured four people and damaged three houses in suburban Quezon city in the Manila metropolis.

A man was electrocuted in northern Tarlac province and two bodies were seen being swept by floodwaters in Nueva Ecija, but authorities were trying to determine whether those were typhoon-related deaths.

Three fishermen were reported missing in northern Bataan province, along with three other men in Aurora’s Baler town, according to the Office of Civil Defence.

President Benigno Aquino III and disaster-response agencies have warned that Koppu’s rain and winds may potentially bring more damage with its slow speed.

A wayward barge carrying coal and 10 crew drifted dangerously close to a breakwater and marina in Manila Bay. A tugboat positioned to prevent the barge from drifting away.

Forecasters said the typhoon had a cloud band of 600km and could dump rain over much of Luzon.

Koppu, Japanese for “cup,” is the 12th storm to hit the Philippines this year. An average of 20 storms and typhoon each year batter the archipelago, one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.

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philippines typhoon koppu