At least five people have been killed and two reported missing as Tropical Storm Fengshen sweeps through the Philippines, triggering heavy flooding on the main island of Luzon and a vast landslide on the southern island of Mindanao.
In Quezon province in the north of the country, five members of one family, including two children, were crushed to death when a tree fell on their bamboo house early on Sunday, according to Philippine disaster agency officials in the town of Pitogo, where the incident took place.
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Images posted on social media by officials showed the house destroyed under the weight of a large palm tree, as a rescue team worked to remove the bodies of the family.
According to a statement shared on social media, a teenage boy was the lone survivor of the accident in Pitogo, about 153km (95 miles) southeast of the capital Manila.
More than a dozen flights were ordered cancelled by aviation authorities as Fengshen hovered over Luzon, situated just south of Manila, as of Sunday afternoon. The storm was reported to be moving west towards the South China Sea.
The AFP news agency quoted officials in southeastern Luzon as saying at least 47,000 people had left their homes for the safety of government-designated temporary shelters since Saturday. At least five dams on Luzon island opened their gates to release water on Sunday, according to the national weather agency, Pagasa.
In the central Philippines, heavy flooding was reported by officials on the islands of Samar and Panay, forcing residents to evacuate.
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One person was injured in the town of Estancia on Panay Island after he was pinned down following the collapse of his wooden house, the ABS-CBN news website reported.
Translation: Raging floodwater inundated several areas of Calbayog City in Samar due to Tropical Storm Ramil [Fengshen] as of Sunday, October 19.
In the province of Bukidnon on the southern island of Mindanao, two people were reported missing after their motorised three-wheel vehicle fell off a highway following a large landslide triggered by the heavy rains.
Public works officials said the highway, which connects Bukidnon to the neighbouring Davao region, is now blocked to traffic.
On average, the Philippines is hit by about 20 storms and typhoons each year, and scientists warn that extreme weather events are becoming more powerful as the planet warms due to human-driven climate change.
Fengshen also comes as the Philippines started to recover from a series of major earthquakes that killed at least 87 people over the past three weeks.
In a Facebook post published on Sunday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said the country needs to “strengthen its disaster preparedness and response” as it is “very prone to having disasters and calamities”.
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