A man was fatally electrocuted while fixing his roof in Camarines Sur this afternoon in preparation for typhoon Kammuri (local name “Tisoy”), which continues to sow disruption across parts of the country.
The Libmanan Municipal Police Station identified what is arguably Kammuri’s first fatality as Marco Paolo Ursua, a 33-year-old resident of the village of Loba-Loba. Ursua was reportedly making repairs ahead of the storm when a damaged wire touched the metal roof, electrocuting him. He fell into a nearby canal, where his lifeless body was found by the police today.
Authorities have also reported 22 villages that were flooded in Camarines Sur province and Naga City, in the Bicol region.
Meanwhile, Legazpi City, in Albay, has emerged as one of the areas hardest hit by the typhoon, according to photos taken today and furnished to Coconuts Manila by Greenpeace Philippines staffers on the ground there.
The total number of residents who were forced to evacuate from the typhoon’s path in Bicol region has risen to over 400,000, the Bicol Police Regional Office said. Besides the destruction of its central domestic airport, several houses in Albay were destroyed today, and various parts of the city were flooded.
Over 4,000 people have also been stranded in the region’s ports due to cancelled sea trips.
The Philippines is no stranger to tropical cyclones, and Kammuri is the 20th typhoon to hit the country this year, but Greenpeace Philippines today linked the destruction to a trend of worsening natural disasters brought on by climate change.
Read: Survey says Filipinos top nationality to believe that climate change will impact human lives
The organization said that typhoons are growing stronger because of global warming, adding that Kammuri’s impact will be “heavily felt by Filipino communities which are in its path.”
A storm Signal 3 is still in effect in Legazpi. Typhoon storm signals in the Philippines are measured on a scale of 1 to 5, with Signal 1 indicating a relatively mild tropical cyclone, and 5 indicating a super typhoon. Signal 3 indicates up to 180kph winds with moderate to heavy damage expected.
However, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration’s forecast this afternoon noted that the storm is weakening as it moves towards the northern portion of Mindoro, an island off the southwestern coast of Luzon.
Continuous heavy rainfall is still expected until tomorrow, and Kammuri is expected to leave the country by Thursday evening.
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