10 dead, 400,000 evacuated as fresh storm batters Philippines

Atropical storm blew out of the central Philippines on Friday, leaving at least IO dead, knocking down trees and power and prompting the evacuation of 400,000 people from landslideand flood-prone villages long battered by typhoons.

- Agencies

Bualoi was the latest of back-to-back storms from the Pacific to threaten Asia.

Typhoon Ragasa, one of the strongest to hit in years, caused at least 28 deaths in the northern Philippines and Taiwan, mostly drownings, before making landfall in China and dissipating on Thursday over Vietnam.

Bualoi made landfall in the Philippine town of San Policarpo in Eastern Samar province on Thursday night with sustained winds of IIO kph, knocking out power in east-central provinces after toppling trees and electrical posts, setting off flooding and minor landslides and blowing roofs off houses and a grandstand, the country’s disaster-mitigation agency and provincial officials said.

Around 400,000 people were evacuated to government emergency shelters as the storm approached, including in Albay province, where villagers on the foothills of Mayon, one of the country's most active volcanoes, were asked to move to safety due to possible volcanic mudflows, Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV from the civil defence office told reporters.