Typhoon Phanfone has left swathes of devastation in the central Philippines (Picture: EPA)
At least 16 people have died after a typhoon swept across the Philippines on Christmas Day.

Typhoon Phanfone saw winds of 120mph smash into remote villages and popular tourist areas, leaving a trail of devastation.

Tens of thousands of people have been left stranded as transport ground to a halt while they tried to make their way home for Christmas.

The storm, also known as Ursula, first made landfall on Tuesday night but continued to pass over the many islands of the central Philippines throughout Wednesday.

It tore roofs off houses and toppled electric posts with much of the damage centred in the Eastern Visayas region.

The internet and mobile phone networks remain cut off and a full assessment of Phanfone’s destruction has not yet been made.

Disaster agency officials said at least 16 people had been confirmed dead, including a three-year-old boy and a police officer hit by a falling electricity post while out on patrol.

However, the death toll looks set to rise when rescuers reach the most stricken areas.

Among the places hit were Boracay, Coron and other holiday destinations that are famed for their white-sand beaches and popular with foreign tourists.

The airport at Kalibo, which services Boracay, was badly damaged, according to a Korean tourist who was stranded there.

Jung Byung Joon said: ‘Roads remain blocked, but some efforts have been made to clear away the damage. It’s pretty bad.

‘Everything within 100 meters of the airport looks broken. There are a lot of frustrated people at the airport as flights have been cancelled.

‘Taxis are still running but it’s windy and still raining so no one wants to leave the airport, including me.’

That was the country’s deadliest storm on record, where 190mph winds smashed into the islands, leaving more than 7,300 dead or missing.

Spokesperson for the Western Visayas disaster office, Cindy Ferrer, said that Phanfone was ‘like the younger sibling of Haiyan.

‘It’s less destructive but it followed a similar path.’

The typhoon caused chaos for tens of thousands of people in the mostly Catholic nation, wanting to travel over the Christmas period.

Ferries and plane services were suspended and 4,000 people evacuated from their homes.

On Thursday, Phanfone headed out towards the South China Sea.

The Philippines is the first major landmass facing the Pacific typhoon belt, and is hit by an average of about 20 major storms a year.

Many of the storms are deadly, and they typically wipe out harvests, homes and infrastructure, keeping millions of people perennially poor.

https://mused.xyz/uncategorized/typhoon-phanfone-kills-at-least-16-as-120mph-winds-smash-into-the-philippines/

This is the same country some people are advertising their education to Nigerians.

One thing Nigeria should be grateful of.


No Natural disaster.