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MANILA (Reuters) – A super typhoon weakened Sunday after hitting the southern part of the main island of Luzon in the Philippines, and authorities reported at least four deaths, power outages, infrastructure damage and flash floods.
The meteorological office downgraded Goni, the world’s strongest storm so far this year, to typhoon category, with sustained winds of 215 kph (140 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 290 kph (180 mph) after that made landfall in the Bicol region.
Tropical storm wind alerts were lowered, but the weather agency warned in its 0300 GMT bulletin that Goni still posed a threat as it traversed the provinces south of the capital Manila.
Goni made landfall at two locations in the Bicol region, where four deaths were reported, provincial governor Al Francis Bichara said, including one struck by a tree and a five-year-old boy washed away by a river overflow.
The disaster management agency could not confirm the report.
Video images from news channels and social media showed overflowing rivers and some levees destroyed, submerging villages in Bicol.
Bichara also received reports of volcanic mud flows, as well as power outages and communication services.
In Quezón, Governor Danilo Suárez said power was cut off in 10 towns when Goni felled trees.
Between 19 million and 31 million people could be affected by the typhoon, including those in danger zones and in the Manila metropolitan area, the disaster management agency said.
About 347,000 people were in the evacuation centers, disaster management chief Ricardo Jalad said, dropping the nearly one million figure the agency reported on Saturday.
President Rodrigo Duterte was monitoring the government’s response to the disaster from his southern hometown, Davao City, according to presidential spokesman Harry Roque.
Health officials reminded those at evacuation centers to observe social distancing, as the spread of the coronavirus is also a concern.
Dozens of domestic and international flights were canceled because the civil aviation authority ordered the one-day closure of Manila’s main entrance, Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Goni is among the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines since Haiyan, which killed more than 6,300 people in 2013.
It follows Typhoon Molave, which hit the Philippines last month and killed 22 people, mostly by drowning in the provinces south of Manila.
The meteorological office said it was also monitoring another cyclone, Tropical Storm Atsani, which could hit northern Luzon provinces in the coming days.
(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz; Edited by William Mallard)
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