AP - Typhoon Utor lashed the central and eastern Philippines, killing four people, including two toddlers, and forcing more than 90,000 people to flee to evacuation centres, officials said.
About 80,000 of the evacuees came from eastern Albay province that was devastated last week by mudslides unleashed by another powerful typhoon. The rest were from the central provinces of Cebu, Leyte and Southern Leyte, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said.
Typhoon Utor made landfall in the town of Guiuan in Eastern Samar province at noon on Sunday. The storm's eye is currently located 90 km north-west of Occidental Mindoro province's San Jose town, with sustained winds of 120 km/h and gusts of up to 150 km/h, the weather bureau said.
San Jose is 250 km south of Manila.
The typhoon's path was just south of the eastern Bicol region, where more than 1,000 people were killed or are still missing after Typhoon Durian struck last week.
Utor caused power and telephone outages in many areas in the central Philippines including Cebu, Leyte and the popular island resort of Boracay, officials said.
About 9,000 ferry and bus passengers were stranded in various central Philippine ports, the NDCC added.
Disaster relief officials said that aside from four deaths, four other people were reported missing and at least three were injured.
A fallen tree killed a child in central Tacloban city where another child was hurt, Office of Civil Defence regional director Adriano Puego said. In nearby Leyte province's Tanauan town, a 13-year-old girl was injured when an uprooted tree fell on her, he added.
In central Capiz province, a one-year-old girl was crushed to death when a tree fell onto her house. Her mother survived but is in a hospital, OCD regional director Rose Cabrera said.
A boy was found dead and his mother and a 70-year-old man were missing after their docked boat capsized in central Roxas city, Cabrera said. Two other men were listed as missing in central Antique province after failing to return from a fishing trip, she said.
A barge lashed by huge waves crashed onto the pier in Romblon's San Agustin town and spilled 25,000 litres of diesel oil, regional disaster officials said.
Superintendent William Macavinta, Aklan province's police chief, said a boat operator from Boracay was killed after his vessel capsized. He said because of communication problems, he was unable to verify reports that 21 people were missing in Boracay and another three people from the nearby port town of Caticlan.
There were no immediate reports of mudslides or casualties in Albay due to Typhoon Utor, said Jukes Nunez, a disaster relief official. Typhoon Durian last week unleashed tonnes of rocks and other volcanic debris from the slopes of Mayon volcano, Albay's most famous landmark, sending walls of mud and boulders on helpless villages.
Utor is moving in a north-west direction and is expected to pass close to Coron town in western Palawan island. It is expected to be 390 km north-west of Coron by Monday afternoon, and to be over the South China Sea by Tuesday, the weather bureau said.
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