By Girlie Linao –
MANILA, Philippines — Tropical Storm Kai-Tak slammed the northern Philippines Wednesday, triggering flash floods and landslides and killing at least three people, one week after deadly monsoon rains battered the country, disaster relief officials said.
Kai-Tak, packing maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and gusts of up to 55 mph, made landfall over the northeastern Philippines before dawn, the weather bureau said. Twenty northern provinces had been placed under storm warnings since Tuesday.
The Office of Civil Defense said one man drowned when he suffered a seizure and fell into a flooded rice field in the province of Pangasinan and another drowned while crossing a swollen river Tuesday in Ilocos Norte province.
Another man died from electrocution in Naguilian town in nearby La Union province, said Superintendent Jovencio Badua, a regional police spokesman.
At least 3,555 people were evacuated from their homes in La Union and Pangasinan because of flash floods while several highways were cut off because of landslides, Badua said.
“The rains were heavy overnight, and flash floods occurred in some towns,” said Edgar Gumabay, a regional disaster response officer based in San Fernando City in La Union. “Floods reached up to the neck in some areas.”
The regional disaster response agency said a landslide also occurred along a national highway in La Union province, blocking traffic and isolating some towns.
Schools were shut down in the affected provinces while several domestic flights to the northern Philippines were canceled.
The weather bureau said Kai-Tak was moving west-northwest at 8 mph and was expected to be out of the country by Friday.
Kai-Tak hit one week after heavy rains caused widespread floods in Manila and surrounding provinces, killing 95 people and affecting more than 3 million people. The deluge was the worst since 2009 when Tropical Storm Ketsana caused flash floods that left 501 dead and missing.
