MANILA (Reuters) – Tropical storm Ma-On caused three deaths in the Philippines, its disaster agency reported on Thursday, with the storm currently headed towards southeastern China.
Two people were confirmed dead, both hit by a fallen tree in mountainous northern provinces of Kalinga and Cagayan, while one drowning in eastern Camarines Sur province is being verified, the disaster agency said, adding that four people were reportedly injured.
Ma-On, with sustained winds of up to 110 km per hour (68 miles per hour), made landfall in the northeastern Philippines on Tuesday. It brought heavy rains that flooded communities and caused landslides before exiting land on Tuesday evening.
The Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Tuesday announced a two-day closure of government offices and public schools in the capital region and adjacent provinces.
In April, Tropical Storm Megi triggered landslides in coastal provinces, with 144 confirmed deaths in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands that sees an average of 20 tropical storms a year.
Several cities in southern China braced for Ma-on ahead of an expected Thursday landfall along the coast of Guangdong province. Its winds and rain could bring much-needed relief to southern areas suffering from days of scorching heat, which pressured China’s national electricity grid, damaged crops and caused wildfires.
(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; editing by Christian Schmollinger)
