Workers pull a fallen electric pylon damaged at the height of Typhoon Phanfone in Salcedo town in Eastern Samar province on December 26, 2019. - AFP
MANILA (AP): A strong typhoon that barrelled through the central Philippines left at least 28 dead and 12 missing, and forced thousands to flee their homes, devastating Christmas celebrations.
Typhoon Phanfone stranded many people in sea and airports at the peak of holiday travel, set off landslides, flooded low-lying villages, destroyed houses, downed trees and electrical poles and knocked out power in entire provinces. One disaster response officer described the battered coastal town of Batad in Iloilo province as a "ghost town” on Christmas Day.
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