One boy drowned and two others were killed following landslides, while tens of thousands were driven from their homes by floods as the storm pounded Samar island.
Kai-Tak, packing gusts of up to 110km/h, hit the country's third-largest island and was forecast to slice across the rest of the central Philippines over the weekend, the state weather service said.
Military trucks drove through rising floodwaters on Samar and nearby Leyte island to rescue trapped residents, with more than 38,000 people now in evacuation centres, local officials said.
Samar and Leyte, with a combined population of about 4.5 million, had borne the brunt of Super Typhoon Haiyan four years ago, which left more than 7,350 people dead or missing.
Strong winds toppled trees and power pylons, knocking out power through the region while floods, small landslides and rock falls blocked roads and buried some homes, local officials and witnesses said.
[rte.ie]
16/12/17
According to Philippine officials, at least 26 people have been killed as a result of landslides triggered by Tropical Storm Kai-Tak, while thousands of Filipinos who were heading home for Christmas have reportedly been stranded, Sputnik reported.
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The reports come a day after the storm hit the east of the Philippines — "the most exposed country in the world to tropical storms," as described by Time magazine — cutting off power and causing landslides in the regions that had suffered from Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, leaving over 7,000 dead or missing.
(Tasnim)
17/12/17