PHILIPPINES: Typhoon lashes Philippine capital, grounding flights, halting vessels and closing the stock market

Record ID: 733443

  • Title: PHILIPPINES: Typhoon lashes Philippine capital, grounding flights, halting vessels and closing the stock market
  • Date: 27th September 2006
  • Summary: (W1) MANILA, PHILIPPINES (SEPTEMBER 28, 2006) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SHIPS OFF MANILA BAY IN STORMY CONDITIONS STATUES OVERLOOKING BAY PHILIPPINE FLAG FLAPPING IN STRONG WINDS VARIOUS OF CYCLIST LOOKING OVER BAY VARIOUS OF CARS DRIVING IN FLOODED STREETS PEOPLE WAITING AT BUS STOP VARIOUS OF COMMUTERS/ PEOPLE WALKING IN STORMY CONDITIONS MAN WITH BROKEN UMBRELLA PEOPLE WALK
  • Embargoed: 12th October 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Philippines
  • Country: Philippines
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA7AZL1B80TU60U85L2SYEX3JG9
  • Story Text: Typhoon Xangsane lashed the Philippine capital on Thursday (September 28), grounding flights, halting vessels and closing schools and markets after triggering fatal flash floods in the centre of the country.
    The storm, which brought heavy rain and winds of up to 160 km (99 miles) per hour, hit the central Philippines on Wednesday (September 27) trapping nearly 3,500 ferry passengers and killing two people in a remote village after flood waters swept away dozens of houses.
    Several central provinces were left without electricity and water as power lines crashed and many roads were left impassable due to uprooted trees, debris and flooding as Xangsane churned northwest towards Manila.
    Disaster officials in the capital had raised the alert level ahead of Xangsane's arrival, the first typhoon to cross the city since 1995.
    Manila's domestic airport said flights to and from the city on local carriers had been cancelled due to the tropical storm. One international flight to Hong kong was also suspended.
    The Philippine coastguard said all sea travel to and from Manila had been halted.
    The central bank cancelled local trading in the peso and the stock exchange also closed. Schools in Manila and five provinces were also closed.
    Residents living in at least 10 towns near the foot of Mayon volcano in the central province of Albay were urged to evacuate their homes due to the danger of winds whipping up mud flows.
    Typhoons and tropical storms regularly hit the Philippines, an archipelago of about 7,000 islands. In the worst disaster in recent years, more than 5,000 people died in central Leyte island in 1991 in floods triggered by a typhoon.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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