Tropical storm kills family of five in Philippines

Tropical storm kills family of five in Philippines
by AFP Staff Writers
Manila (AFP) Oct 19, 2025

Tropical Storm Fengshen headed out to sea Sunday after killing a family of five on the Philippines' main island Luzon, officials and state weather forecasters said.

The family, including children aged two and 11 years old, were crushed to death in their sleep when a giant palm tree fell on their house near Pitogo, about 153 kilometres (95 miles) southeast of capital Manila.

"The entire family was asleep in a house made of light materials," Governor Angelina Tan of Quezon province told Manila radio station DZMM, adding that a sixth member of the family survived.

Pitogo police official Sonny Ombajino confirmed the deaths, saying they occurred as the storm raked across the south of Luzon overnight.

At least 47,000 people headed to government-designated temporary shelters across southeast Luzon starting Saturday, local disaster officials said, as the weather service warned of possible coastal flooding and landslides.

Rain continued to batter the island as Fengshen made its way towards the South China Sea on Sunday.

It was expected to track northwest before eventually turning toward Vietnam with gusts of up to 90 kilometres (56 miles) an hour, according to the weather service.

The Philippines is hit annually by around 20 storms and typhoons, which routinely strike areas where millions of people live in poverty.

Thousands flee Philippine coast as storm approaches
Manila (AFP) Oct 18, 2025 - Thousands of residents of the Philippines left their homes along the Pacific coast Saturday as weather experts warned of coastal flooding ahead of Tropical Storm Fengshen's landfall.

The storm was forecast to hit Catanduanes, an impoverished island of 270,000 people, late Saturday with gusts of up to 90 kilometres (56 miles) an hour, the government weather service said.

A second landfall is expected on the main island of Luzon on Sunday morning.

Fengshen will bring heavy rainfall, along with a "minimal to moderate risk" of coastal flooding from 1-2 metre (3-6 foot) waves being pushed ashore by the disturbance, the government weather service said.

Nearly 17,000 residents of the eastern province of Albay, along with more than 9,000 in nearby Catanduanes island moved to safer ground, local disaster officials said.

The evacuations are a well-rehearsed routine in a region that is often the first major landmass struck by cyclones that form in the western Pacific Ocean.

The Catanduanes provincial government ordered local officials to "activate their respective evacuation plans" for residents of "high-risk areas" including the coast, low-lying communities and landslide-prone slopes, rescue official Gerry Rubio told AFP.

The Philippines is hit by around 20 storms and typhoons each year, which routinely strike areas where millions of people live in poverty.

Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful as the planet warms due to human-driven climate change.

Fengshen comes as the country reels from a series of major earthquakes that killed at least 87 people over the past three weeks.

Typhoon Bualoi killed 37 people and forced 400,000 to flee their homes in the northern Philippines.