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Sunday, October 02, 2011

Philippines hit by back-to-back typhoons that leave dozens dead



Manila, Philippines (CNN) -- A second typhoon in a week pounded the Philippines over the weekend, weakening Sunday only after prompting evacuations, causing severe flooding and contributing to at least one death, officials said.

Typhoon Nalgae, known locally as Quiel, lost some strength by Sunday morning, though it still had maximum sustained winds of 130 kph (80 mph), with gusts recorded 30 kph (18.6 miles) stronger, according to an 11 a.m. Sunday advisory from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Administration.

At that point, its center was 290 kilometers (180 miles) west of Baguio City.

The storm comes on the heels of Typhoon Nesat, which left 52 people dead and hit 34 provinces Tuesday, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council.

The two typhoons have affected about 3 million Filipinos, according to the nonprofit humanitarian group, World Vision.

"The immediate need is ready-to-eat food and water," said Jay Mijares, a spokesman for the group.

"Survivors have no means to cook food. We are seeing a mass exodus of people looking for food, there is no supply, and on top of that their livelihood is disrupted. They have money but there's just nothing to buy."

The latest typhoon -- Nalgae -- made landfall in Dinapigue, in Isabela province, on Saturday morning, the disaster council said. It moved past the Asian island nation by Sunday, forecasters said, after having brought rain of 15-25 millimeters per hour (0.6-1 inch) in many areas.

The heavy rains caused a landslide Saturday that swept a passenger van off a highway, killing one man and injuring one more, the disaster council said

At least 850 families, or roughly 3,500 people, in the provinces of La Union and Pangasinan were affected by flooding, according to a Sunday morning update by the council.

Over the course of the weekend, the storm forced the closure of a number of bridges and made a number of roads impassable in the cities of Calasiao and Dagupan on Luzon island, according to the disaster council. Affected residents are being evacuated from those communities and others, including Santa Barbara.

Officials suspended operations at ports in Balanan, Batangas, Lucena, Puerto Real, Kawit and Calapan City, the disaster council said. Service was expected to be restored at some ports by late Sunday morning, the council said.

By Sunday, gates were opened at four dams that had reached their spillage levels, the council said.

World Vision said Saturday that it had to postpone some of its relief efforts from the first typhoon due to Nalgae, with two of three emergency teams set to deploy once the storm passes.

Another team is in Bulcan province, most of which is "still submerged" from heavy rains from the first typhoon that struck days earlier.

Sherbien Dacalanio, a CNN iReporter in the Philippines, described one area of Manila as being devastated by Nesat.

"The damage is shocking. It's like a damage brought by earthquake and tsunami," Dacalanio said.

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