Typhoon Bualoi: Philippines evacuates 400,000 people

The Philippines evacuated 400,000 people and confirmed at least three deaths on September 26 as tropical storm Bualoi battered the country, still feeling the effects of Super Typhoon Ragasa.

Civil defence officials in southern Luzon's Bicol region said three people had been killed as walls collapsed and trees were uprooted.

Bualoi first made landfall in San Policarpo, Eastern Samar, at around 11:30 pm on September 25, bringing torrential rain and gale-force winds. By 2 am on September 26, the storm had sustained winds of up to 120 km/h, with gusts reaching 165 km/h.

The storm later weakened into a tropical depression and made a second landfall in Palanas, Masbate province, at around 4 am on September 26. It was sweeping west by northwest at sustained speeds of 110km per hour.