Six people have been killed by falling trees triggered by Tropical Storm Bebinca, which lashed central and southern Philippines on Friday with strong winds and flooding, authorities announced on Sunday (September 15).
Four children returning from school in Malabang, in the southern province of Lanao del Sur, were killed on Friday when a huge tree fell on the motorized tricycle they were riding during the storm, a municipal police officer told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “The wind was so strong that it tore the tree away.”he clarified.
On the Zamboanga peninsula, 200 kilometers from this province, a 2-year-old girl and a woman died in two separate incidents also when trees fell on their houses, said the regional head of Disasters, Angelito Casinillo.
The storm displaced 13,000 people and damaged roads and other infrastructure in the Southeast Asian country. According to the National Disaster Management Council, the typhoon also left at least 11 people injured and two missing.
Flights to Shanghai cancelled
Chinese authorities are bracing for heavy rain on Sunday as powerful Typhoon Bebinca approaches the country’s densely populated east coast. All flights will be cancelled on Sunday at the two main airports in Shanghai, China’s economic capital, in anticipation of the typhoon’s arrival, Chinese state television CCTV announced. Traffic has already slowed at the two affected airports and “from 8 pm [14 heures à Paris]All flights are cancelled »CCTV reported.
According to China’s Ministry of Disaster Management, Bebinca is expected to make landfall and reach Shanghai between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. The latter warned in a press release on Saturday that the typhoon could bring very heavy rains, even “torrential” between Sunday and Tuesday.
The weather service on Sunday issued orange typhoon warnings – the second-highest level of a four-tier system – for several districts in Shanghai and parts of neighbouring provinces.
Around 20 strong storms and typhoons hit the Philippines or surrounding waters every year, killing dozens of people each time.
