MANILA: Nineteen people died, 13 were wounded, 35 went missing and nearly two 200,000 people were displaced after Typhoon Nesat (local name: Pedring) battered northern Philippines Tuesday, reports Xinhua News.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council ( NDRRMC) said Wednesday that Nesat, which is now moving towards south China, has brought heavy rains and high winds that led to several landslides and flooding in central and northern Luzon. About 100 million pesos worth of crops and infrastructure were destroyed.
In Manila, the country’s capital, Nesat brought torrential rains that filled the streets with waist-deep water, destroyed several shops and knocked down trees. Waves from the Manila Bay reached as high as coconut trees and pounded the seawall.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Nesat was spotted 380 km west northwest of Baguio city, packing maximum sustained winds of 130 km per hour and gustiness of up to 160 kph.
Nesat, which is moving towards the South China Sea, will continue to enhance the southwest monsoon and will bring scattered to widespread rains over southern Luzon and western Visayas.
Storm signal number one is hoisted on the northern Philippine provinces of Zambales, La Union and Pangasinan. The PAGASA alerted residents living in low lying and mountainous areas in these provinces against possible flash floods and landslides.