MANILA, 15 May 2006 — Towns hit by tropical storm Chanchu began cleaning yesterday as the storm blew away from the country, killing at least 37 people and leaving thousands homeless in its wake.

Chanchu, code named Caloy by local weather scientists, left large parts of the country underwater and forced the relocation of an annual meeting of Southeast Asian trade minister, officials said. By midday yesterday the storm was 430 kilometers out in the South China Sea, charting a west-southwesterly course and packing winds of up to 140 kilometers per hour, according to the weather bureau Pagasa.

Rain and strong winds continued to lash parts of southern Luzon and the central Visayas, which bore the brunt of the storm.

Most of the dead were aboard a motor ferry that sank near central island of Masbate on Friday after the skipper ignored a coast guard ban on sea travel.

At least 26 people drowned, according to Neri Amparo, an official of the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

Coast guard boats and fishermen rescued 18 other passengers of the Mae Ann and were searching for at least two others who were reported missing by their families.

“This deadly accident could have been avoided if some people were not as hardheaded and heeded the coast guard’s storm warnings,” Amparo said.

Ten others died from drowning or after being struck by trees or concrete walls in three provinces and a Manila suburb which were swamped by floods and battered by strong winds. More than 42,000 people were affected by floods, landslides and heavy rains, including nearly 8,000 who had to be moved to government evacuation centers in five central rural regions where the storm passed, officials said.

Strong winds and rain triggered floods, landslides and toppled trees and commercial billboards, destroying 600 houses and damaging 3,500 others, officials said.

A ferry with 713 passengers ran aground as it sought shelter early Saturday morning off Tablas island, about 260 kilometers (165 miles) southeast of Manila. On Friday, the empty ferry MV Northern Samar sank after it was buffeted by waves while moored at a port in Tabaco town, 320 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Manila.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo pledged to help victims and appealed to the public to heed storm warnings. She ordered a check on giant billboards build above congested communities in the capital after a number were destroyed, damaging two cars and at least one house.

Organizers were forced to shift the venue of an annual retreat of trade ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations from the popular palm-fringed resort island of Boracay, about 300 kilometers southeast of Manila, after the storm disrupted flights and knocked out power in nearby provinces. The meetings, which start Monday, were moved to Manila.

The storm made landfall on eastern Samar island late Thursday, sliced westward across the center of the archipelago and blew toward the South China Sea on Saturday, leaving rain and bad weather in its wake.

An air force crew postponed helicopter flights requested by officials to survey storm damage in the provinces of Batangas and Mindoro south of Manila due to lingering winds, low clouds and poor visibility, air force spokesman Maj. Augusto de la Peña said. (With reports from Agencies)