MANILA: Another tropical storm barreled across Philippine islands Friday, causing at least four deaths and new evacuations of tens of thousands of people from landslide, and flood-prone villages long battered by typhoons. Bualoi, which has weakened since making landfall overnight, was the latest of back-to-back storms from the Pacific to threaten Asia. Typhoon Ragasa, one of the strongest to hit in years, caused at least 25 deaths in the northern Philippines and Taiwan, mostly from flooding, before making landfall in China and dissipating over Vietnam. Bualoi made landfall in the Philippine town of San Policarpo in Eastern Samar province late Thursday with sustained winds of 110 kph (68 mph), knocking out power in towns and villages and setting off flooding and two minor landslides, the country’s disaster-mitigation agency said in a news conference. More than 73,000 people from Eastern Samar and Northern Samar provinces went to government emergency shelters as the storm approached, provincial officials said. The four deaths were in the central island province of Masbate. Three were hit separately by a falling tree, a collapsed wall and falling debris and a fourth was hit by lightning Thursday night, officials said. “We need clearing operations because most of our road networks are not really passable for food and health assistance to pass,” Masbate Gov. Ricardo Kho said in a news conference. “We also need help to have our ports reopened as early as possible for us to receive help from different provinces.” Bualoi, locally named Opong, was the 15th tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines this year. The fast-moving storm, which has a rain and wind band of about 450 kilometers (280 miles) from its center, was blowing northwest and could blow over densely populated coastal provinces south of the capital, Manila, later Friday before entering the South China Sea. It could restrengthen to a typhoon on a course toward Vietnam, Philippine forecaster said. The latest storm hit at a sensitive time in the Philippines. Multiple investigations have implicated multiple lawmakers, including allies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in a corruption scandal involving flood control and related infrastructure projects. Allegations of massive kickbacks that have financed lavish lifestyles of those involved have sparked public outrage and protests in a Southeast Asian country prone to deadly floodings and typhoons.
