MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Typhoon Yinching pummeled the northern Philippines with floods and landslides before blasting away from the country on Friday, damaging two airports and worsening the disaster caused by back-to-back storms that have struck in recent weeks.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from Typhoon Yenching, the thirteenth major typhoon to hit the disaster-prone Southeast Asian archipelago this year.
The typhoon, locally called Marcy, was spotted over the South China Sea about 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of the northern Philippine province of Ilocos Norte, with sustained winds of up to 150 kilometers (93 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 150 kilometers per hour. (93 miles) per hour. 205 kilometers per hour (127 mph), according to government projections. It is expected to weaken further before reaching Vietnam.
Typhoon Yinching battered the northern Philippines with floods and landslides before hitting the country on Friday, damaging two airports and worsening the disaster caused by back-to-back storms that have battered the country in recent weeks.
The typhoon inundated villages, toppled trees and electricity poles, and damaged homes and buildings in Cagayan province, where Yinqing made landfall on Thursday afternoon, provincial officials said. More than 40,000 villagers were evacuated to safer areas in the province.
In Batanes province, in the far north of the island, state governor Marilou Caico said strong winds and heavy rain that hit Yinqing destroyed rooftops and damaged seaports and two local airport terminals.
Officials said more details of the damage, including in two northern mountain towns hit by landslides, were expected after the provinces hit by the typhoon completed their assessment.
The new damage will complicate recovery efforts from two powerful storms that hit the northern region in recent weeks.
Tropical Storm Trami and Typhoon Cong Ri left at least 151 people dead in the Philippines and affected nearly 9 million others, mostly in the northern and central provinces. More than 14 billion pesos ($241 million) worth of rice, corn, other crops and infrastructure were damaged.
Trami dumped one to two months’ worth of rain in just 24 hours in some areas. In the worst-hit province of Batangas, south of Manila, at least 61 people died in floods and landslides.
In this photo provided by the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Lal-lo, a resident wades through flooded areas caused by Typhoon Yinxing in Lal-lo, Cagayan Province, northern Philippines Friday, November 8, 2024. (LGU Lal-lo via dad)
More than 630,000 people remained displaced by Typhoons Trami and Gong Rai as of Thursday, including 172,000 who remained in emergency shelters as Typhoon Yinching tore through the country’s mountainous north, officials said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has decided not to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru next week to focus on recovery efforts, Communications Secretary Cesar Chavez said.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages and caused ships to run aground and crash into homes in the central Philippines. The archipelago is also located in an area that is often exposed to earthquakes, and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.
