Tropical storm Hagupit kills at least 21 in Philippines

At least 21 people have been reported dead in the Philippines after typhoon Hagupit made first landfall.

Many of the victims drowned as flood waters rose in Borongan, the main town in Eastern Samar. The Philippines had evacuated more than a million people as the typhoon approached the country from the Pacific, fearing a repeat of a super storm last year that left more than 7,000 dead or missing.

“We have confirmed reports that 21 people died in Eastern Samar, 16 of them in Borongan,” said Gwendolyn Pang, the secretary general of the Philippine National Red Cross.

Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos returned on Monday to homes battered by the typhoon, amid relief that a massive evacuation operation appeared to have minimised fatalities. But a huge operation remains to clear debris and get supplies to people left homeless or without power after the typhoon flattened houses and tore down power lines.

Hagupit roared in from the Pacific on Saturday night, churning across Samar island and on to the smaller island of Masbate. Its effects were felt across the central Philippines, including Leyte island and the south of the main island Luzon.

Following the category 5 “super typhoon” in 2013 authorities took no chances and evacuated towns and villages in coastal and landslide-prone areas.

Hagupit was downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm on Monday, with winds of up to 105kph (65mph) and gusts of up to 135kph.

It hit the small islands of Romblon and Marinduque on Monday morning and was on track to reach Batangas, on Luzon, about 56 miles south of Manila, later in the day, the Philippine weather bureau Pagasa said.