Manila: A tropical storm lashed the northern and central Philippines on Sunday, leaving at least one person dead and forcing more than 22,000 people to evacuate from flood- and landslide-prone villages, officials said.
Tropical Storm Fengshen was tracked at midday over Manila Bay with sustained winds of up to 65 kmph (40 mph) and gusts of up to 90 kmph (56 mph). It was expected to move away from the main northern
Philippine region of Luzon Sunday night, government forecasters said.
A villager drowned on Saturday in Roxas City in the central province of Capiz, where flooding in many villages was worsened by the onset of high tide, police and provincial officials said.
Five villagers died after their hut was hit early Sunday by a tree that residents had been trying to topple by burning in Pitogo town in the eastern province of Quezon, provincial police chief Romulo Albacea said by telephone, saying authorities were assessing whether to classify the deaths as having been directly caused by the storm.