Typhoon triggers evacuations in Leyte

Manila: Typhoon 'Chanchu' triggered evacuations in the central Philippines yesterday as flooding and strong winds shuttered ports and caused a landslide near a village devastated by a huge mudslide in February.

About 1,000 people in nine villages in Sogod area on Leyte island were cut off because of the latest landslide but there were no reports of casualties.

"It was very close to Agas Agas where the landslide of February 12 took place,: Rosette Lerias, governor of Southern Leyte, said. "There were no houses in the area of the landslide."

Sogod is about 25 km from what was once the farming village of Guinsaugon but which is now a mass grave after nearly 1,000 people were entombed there under metres of mud following weeks of heavy rain.

Chanchu, with gusts of up to 130km/h, was moving north and residents living along coastal areas in the Bicol region have been evacuated.

"We have started the pre-emptive evacuation in coastal areas. We are worried that strong winds will wash away their houses when the storm surges," Office of Civil Defence Bicol director Arnel Capili told local radio.

More than 4,500 people were stranded in ports and Capili said almost all provinces in the coconut-producing Bicol region were without electricity after power plants were shut down as a precaution.

The Department of Agriculture said there were no immediate reports of crop damage. Several domestic flights to Bicol region and Visayas islands were cancelled leaving hundreds of people stranded in airport terminals.

The coast guard and maritime authorities also issued travel warnings, ordering nearly 20 domestic ferries to stop services to to areas affected by the typhoon.

About 20 typhoons hit the Philippine archipelago each year and on an average seven of them cross the country, mostly during the rainy season.