Aid for 64,000 people displaced by Philippine typhoon
Posted: 09 May 2009 1249 hrs

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MANILA: Food, medicine and housing materials were being rushed on Saturday to tens of thousands of people displaced by a typhoon that lashed the northern Philippines, rescuers said.

The death toll from Typhoon Chan-hom, the second typhoon to hit the country in a week, rose to 27 as more of the affected areas restored downed power and communication lines.

At least 47 tonnes of rice were sent to the region around the cape of Bolinao, where 12 people died as the typhoon wrecked homes and toppled power lines, the civil defence office said in a statement.

Electricity was being slowly restored in the area, it added.

Relief goods were also being taken to the neighbouring province of Zambales and to the mountain region around Kiangan town, where 12 people were killed by landslides, it added.

One man died of a heart attack in the city of Olongapao as it was also rocked by landslides.

Relief agencies reported two new deaths on Saturday – a woman drowned when a boat capsized while crossing a river near Santa Fe town, while a four-year-old girl drowned in Balanga city west of Manila.

The typhoon blew out into the Philippine Sea off the northeast coast of Luzon island early Friday after unleashing landslides, floods and power cuts across the north of the country.

It destroyed more than 7,000 houses and the strong winds and flooding displaced more than 64,000 people, the government said.

Chan-hom hit just days after Typhoon Kujira wreaked havoc across a swathe of the Philippines, leaving at least 27 people dead and 54,000 people homeless.

Around 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year, some causing massive death and destruction.


- AFP/so