The death toll from a Christmas typhoon that tore through the central Philippines has risen to 28, with 12 people missing, as authorities move to restore power and residents tried to repair damaged homes.
Typhoon Phanfone hit late on Tuesday with winds of up to 120km/h and gusts of 150km/h, dumping sheets of uninterrupted rain on a string of islands, damaging hundreds of homes and causing flooding in eight areas.
Some 43,000 people were in temporary shelters on Friday, among the 185,000 impacted by the typhoon, which destroyed 49 homes and partially damaged 2000. "People did not expect that the storm would be that devastating," said disaster agency spokesman Mark Timbal.Though less powerful than other typhoons this year, Phanfone made landfall in some of the country's poorest and least-developed islands.
Residents there were clearing debris, with wooden pillars and sheets of corrugated iron roof that were once homes, scattered across the ground. Men pulled tried to recover fishing boats with tangled or damaged outriggers.
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