Manila: Super cyclone Nanmadol (locally known as Mina) left 16 dead, 21 injured, and nine missing, many of whom were presumed dead, as it hovered 320km northwest of northern Philippines’ topmost Batanes island, dumped rains in Taiwan, and threatened to enter China, a disaster official said.

Mark Lester Agdeppa, 3, died when he slipped into a drainage canal in Rangay village, Sinait, Ilocos Sur. Andres Calaro. 82, drowned in Binaratan village, Sarrat, Ilocos Norte.

Two more young victims, Apolinario Flores, 10, and Revillar Flores, 13, died in a landslide at the Irisan Dumpsite in Baguio City late Sunday night, said Undersecretary Benito Ramos, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Members of families of scavengers at Baguio’s Irisan dumpsite remained missing.

Rescuers could not get them because the dumpsite was soft and dangerous due to torrential rains brought by Nanmadol which remained at the Pacific Ocean, but its diameter of 550 kilometre dumped 10- to 20 millimetres of rains per hour in the Ilocos Region Saturday, and in northern Cordilleras, where 13 more died by landslides, on Sunday, said Ramos.

Other victims in all the affected areas died by drowning, and one was buried by collapsed wall in Metro Manila’s suburban Quezon City, said Ramos.

Strongest tropical cyclone this year

Nanmadol was the strongest tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines this year, affecting 6,167 families or 231,314 people in 653 villages, 91 municipalities, six cities, 15 provinces and seven region nationwide, said Ramos, adding that affected areas included far away places such as southern Luzon’s Catanduanes, Metro Manila’s Quezon City, and nearby central Luzon’s Zambales and Pangasinan provinces.

A total of 6,183 families or 61,267 people were placed in 38 evacuation centres in all the affected areas. About 14,968 families or 55,890 people were isolated by the disaster, Ramos said.

Ten bridges and 36 major roads mostly in the northern areas were closed to traffic. Communication lines, water supplies, and electricity were restored less than 50 percent in the severely damaged areas in northern Luzon, said Ramos.

Agriculture destroyed

Almost P1-billion (Dh 83.3 million) worth of agriculture and infrastructure were damaged in northern Luzon’s Cagayan and in eastern Visayas, central Philippines; and P940 million (Dh 78.33 million) worth of agriculture destroyed, also in Cagayan.

Nanmadol’s sustained winds of 100 kilometres near the centre, and gusts of 130 kilometres per hour, moved slowly, at nine kilometre per hour, away from Batanes, and was estimated to be 520 kilometre northwest of Batanes on Tuesday.

But Namadol’s wide diameter, which remained 550 kilometre, already brought torrential rains to Taiwan where thousands were promptly evacuated, trains systems halted, and commercial centres, offices, and schools closed.

About 21 deadly tropical storms visit the Philippines every year. This year’s two strongest, Nock-ten and Muifa, left almost a hundred dead last July.