Storm Zack kills nearly 100 in the Philippines

Storm Zack kills nearly 100 in the Philippines

BACOLOD, Philippines (Reuter): Tropical storm Zack killed nearly 100 people, forced 60,000 others to flee their homes and sank two passenger ferries in a devastating sweep across the central Philippines, officials said yesterday.

The storm flattened more than 2,000 houses, most of them built of wood, downed power lines, knocked out telephones in eight provincial cities and triggered floods that ravaged sugarcane plantations in the Visayas region.

More than 5,000 other houses were partially damaged, relief officials said.

In Manila, President Fidel Ramos declared a state of calamity in Visayas to enable the central government to release emergency funds to rebuild the area.

Relief agencies reported at least 89 dead but officials said they expected the toll to rise when they heard from interior villages cut off after Zack's 105 kph (65 mph) center winds hit 10 provinces in the area on Saturday.

Most of the deaths were drownings and some people were crushed to death by falling trees, relief officials said.

Many families climbed to the roofs of their houses as rivers swelled and sent floodwaters rampaging through 100 villages in Iloilo province on Panay island, provincial governor Arturo Defensor said.

"The damage to our sugar is terrible. We're not able to quantify it at this time," he added by telephone.

Governor Rafael Coscolluela of Negros Occidental, 550 kilometers southeast of Manila, referring to potential sugar losses, said "In some areas, it looks bad."

Officials said raw sugar output in the 1995/96 season might be reduced as a result of destruction of plantations. Negros and Panay islands produce nearly 70 percent of the country's sugar.

At least 57 people died in Negros Occidental, many of them drowned, while another 23 were missing. Fifteen people were killed in Iloilo and 17 on Cebu island, local officials said. About 30 other people were injured.

By late yesterday, Negros Occidental and Iloilo, with a combined population of almost five million, remained without power.

The storm lifted iron sheets from roofs of several schoolhouses in Iloilo and hurled them 100 meters, provincial councillor Pablito Araneta said.

About 35,000 people abandoned their homes in Negros and 25,000 others fled to schools, churches and gymnasiums in Iloilo and Cebu, relief officials said.

"We have three major problems, food, power and potable water," Iloilo's Defensor said. "We need immediate massive assistance."

The 352-ton inter-island Cebu Diamond ferry sank off Camotes island but 46 of its 51 crewmen were rescued by passing foreign ships or swam ashore to safety, the coast guard said. Five were missing.

A small motor launch sank off Guimaras island but five of its eight occupants were rescued. Three others were missing.

Philippine Airlines cancelled more than 30 domestic flights.

The storm headed towards the South China Sea yesterday where it was expected to intensify, the weather bureau said.