1 million Filipinos affected by Typhoon Hagupit

By Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA

Typhoon Hagupit has weakened to a tropical storm after bringing misery and suffering to more than 1 million Filipinos as it battered its way through the country's central and eastern provinces Sunday.

According to local weather agency Pagasa, as of 12.00 Monday (04.00 GMT) Hagupit's winds had dropped to 105 kph as it moved toward the province of Marinduque.

At least 21 people were reported dead in Borongan, the main town in Eastern Samar, the Philippine National Red Cross reported Monday.

"We have confirmed reports that 21 people died in Eastern Samar, 16 of them in Borongan," Gwendolyn Pang, secretary-general of the Philippine National Red Cross told GMA News Online, but later clarified that not all fatalities were from the region.

The country's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has reported that the number of people affected by Hagupit - renamed Ruby in the Philippines - has hit the 1.074 million mark.

The typhoon made landfall in the provinces of Masbate and Eastern Samar, to the north of the spot where Typhoon Haiyan - one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded - made landfall last year. Haiyan devastated portions of Southeast Asia - particularly the Philippines - in Nov. 2013, killing thousands.

According to the disaster management agency, some 232,948 families or 1,074,080 people suffered in destruction brought about by Hagupit's floods and howling winds - knocking down wooden houses and trees as it tore across the country. Of that total, 230,569 families or 1,066,141 people, are currently being served inside and outside evacuation centers.

It added that around 2,663 boat and plane passengers, 94 cargo boats, 644 passenger sea vessels and three motor boats are still stranded in various ports due to rough seas. Power outages were reported in 16 provinces while telecommunications networks are currently down in some parts of Leyte and Samar provinces.

Government assistance extended to the affected families in four hardest hit regions has reached P47.24 million ($1.06 million) while the department of Agriculture reported Monday that an estimated P98.27 million worth of agriculture products were damaged in two regions.