MANILA: Typhoon Fengshen killed at least 17 people in floods and landslides in the Philippines and left a ferry adrift with over 700 passengers and crew yesterday.
The Princess of the Stars stalled in rough seas near Sibuyan island in the central Philippines with 626 passengers and 121 crew on board, officials said.
In the southern Philippines, 10 people drowned and five were missing after a river burst its banks in Maguindanao province.
In Cotabato City, a man and a child were buried in a landslide at a rubbish dump, police said. Five other people were also drowned.
Fengshen, with winds gusting up to 195 kph (121 mph), is moving through the center of the Southeast Asian country and is expected to exit today and head north toward Taiwan, according to storm tracker website www.tropicalstormrisk.com.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered clean-up and rescue operations before her departure for an 8-day state visit to the United States.
In the south, the navy used motorized rubber boats to rescue residents stranded in chest-deep water.
Fengshen, the sixth typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, tore up trees and power lines across wide swathes of the country. Flights were canceled and ships kept in harbor.
In Boracay, the Philippines’ top holiday island, tourists deserted the white beach and headed for bars and restaurants.
Heavy rain drenched Manila and rescue crews were at the ready in case of flooding.
About 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year, triggering flooding and mass evacuations. Environmental groups blame illegal logging for making flooding worse, particularly in the central Philippines, where more than 5,000 people were killed in 1991 by floodwaters triggered by a typhoon.
In February 2006, about 1,000 people were buried when a mudslide from a barren mountain submerged a farming village on a central island.
