Tropical Storm Penha has left at least four people dead and displaced more than 6,000 in the southern Philippines, authorities said on Friday. Days of heavy rainfall triggered flooding and a landslide, causing widespread devastation.
The storm, locally named Basyang, made landfall late on Thursday in Surigao del Sur province before moving westwards across the central islands. As of Friday noon, it was tracked off Bohol province with sustained winds of up to 55km/h and gusts of up to 70km/h.
A couple and their two children were killed on Thursday night when their shanty was buried by a landslide in a quarry area in Cagayan de Oro city. The landslide was triggered by torrential rain. In Iligan city, residents were trapped in flooded homes, with one woman pleading for rescue via radio as floodwaters surrounded her family.
More than 6,000 people were displaced across southern and central provinces, with around 5,800 moved to evacuation centres. Classes were suspended in affected areas. The storm also caused transport disruptions, stranding nearly 5,000 passengers and cargo workers at 94 seaports and cancelling dozens of domestic flights.
Penha's rain and wind band stretches around 660km, unusually wide for a storm ahead of the summer season. Government forecaster Robert Badrina noted the storm developed outside the usual peak typhoon months. It is expected to weaken into a tropical depression later on Friday as it moves northwest towards Palawan, though heavy rain may continue.
The Philippines experiences around 20 typhoons and tropical storms annually and is among the world's most disaster-prone countries, also lying along earthquake fault lines and hosting more than a dozen active volcanoes.
