More than 700 people living along the shorelines of Alcala town, Cagayan, take refuge at the gymnasium after preemptive evacuation ordered by town officials./Inquirer.net
At least seven have been reported killed after supertyphoon Lawin (international name Haima) slammed into Northern Luzon.
Ricardo Jalad, executive director of National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said they received reports of fatalities from local police, but these have yet to be validated.
One was reported dead in Ilocos region, two in Cagayan and four in Cordillera, he said.
Supertyphoon Lawin made landfall late in Peñablanca, Cagayan, on Wednesday night, toppling power and communication lines in most parts of Northern Luzon.
It was the strongest cyclone to hit the Philippines since supertyphoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013.
A report from the NDRRMC said that 90,850 persons were preemptively evacuated in Northern and Southern Luzon and the Bicol region.
Loss of power and network signal interruption were also reported in parts of Northern Luzon.
As of initial assessment by the NDRRMC, there were 3,919 families or 15,328 persons displaced and 3,825 families or 14,895 persons are currently in evacuation centers.
Whistling winds that hammered houses and crumpled metals “like paper” until the wee hours of Thursday — this was how Villamor Visaya Jr., an Inquirer correspondent in Isabela, described the onslaught of supertyphoon “Lawin” as it made landfall in southern Cagayan and traversed across northern Luzon.
“Ang lakas, at hindi kami nakatulog hanggang umaga, parang hinihigop ang bahay. At same din ang nakuha nating obserbasyon sa mga residente kanina habang kami ay umiikot at binabanggit din nila na parang binabayo ng martilyo ang kanilang mga bahay,” Visaya said over Radyo Inquirer 990AM.
Signal no. 5 was hoisted over Isabela and nearby provinces on Wednesday. It was downgraded to signal no. 1 on Thursday morning.
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