Typhoon Pablo is strongest
to hit Mindanao in 20 years

With maximum sustained winds reaching 185 kph that could bring rainfall of 15 to 30 mm per hour (heavy to intense) within its 600-km diameter, typhoon Pablo (international name: Bopha) is the strongest to hit Mindanao in two decades, according to Pagasa last Tuesday.

“Base sa nakalap naming data, ang Typhoon Pablo ang pinakamalakas (na tumama sa Mindanao),” said weather forecaster Jori Loiz in a GMA News Online report.

He added that “Sendong” can’t be compared to “Pablo” because the former is only a tropical storm.

“Sendong” hit Mindanao in December 2011, leaving 1,257 people dead and P1.6 billion damage in agriculture and properties.

Meanwhile, Pagasa is still studying “Pablo” and what sustains it because it forms and intensifies below five degrees latitude, which is unusual, said Loiz.

Pablo hit Davao Oriental at 5 a.m. Tuesday with maximum sustained winds of 175 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 210 kph.

GMA News reported that at least 7,011 Mindanao residents from Regions 10, 11 and 13 were evacuated hours before the cyclone made landfall.

According to an ABC-CBN news report, six people were killed, including an elderly woman who was crushed to death when a tree fell on her house, rescue officials said.

They did not say how the other five died.

They also reported that four fishermen went missing off Mindanao's east coast.

Also, at least 34 were reported dead Tuesday evening, including soldiers on board an army truck that overturned in New Bataan, Compostela Valley, after a flashflood triggered by strong rains brought by Typhoon Pablo, according to Compostela Valley Governor Arturo Uy. The soldiers were reportedly enroute to assist in evacuation operations, according to GMA News Online.

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) head Benito Ramos said the latest fatality was a 50-year-old woman in Manay town in Davao Oriental who was killed after a coconut tree fell on her.

He added that a landslide occurred in New Bataan, Compostela Valley but there’s no report of casualties yet.

There’s no electricity in Davao Oriental, Surigao del Sur and Cagayan de Oro, he said.*GMA News