A tropical storm set off flooding and a landslide in the southern Philippines, leaving at least four people dead, displacing more than 6,000 and trapping residents in houses in two flooded villages, officials said on Friday. Tropical Storm Penha slammed ashore onto the southeastern province of Surigao del Sur from the Pacific late Thursday. It was last tracked on Friday around noon off central Bohol province with sustained winds of up to 55 kilometres (34 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 70 kph (43mph), according to forecasters.
A couple and two children died Thursday night when their shanty was hit by a landslide in a quarry area that was set off by torrential rains in a village in southern Cagayan de Oro city, Office of Civil Defence regional director Antonio Sugarol said. In southern Iligan city, about 55 kilometres (34 miles) southwest of Cagayan de Oro, a resident called the DZMM radio network on Friday and pleaded to be rescued from the second floor of her house as floodwater rose and trapped her and three other family members.
“Rescuers are on the way,” Sugarol told the frantic resident over the radio, saying other families were being rescued in the villages of Mahayahay and Tubod in Iligan City. More than 6,000 villagers were displaced due to the storm, including 5,800 who moved to evacuation centres in southern and central provinces.
