Nicotine's World of Fun

At least 80 people are dead and scores of others missing as Typhoon Frank (international codename Fengshen) struck the country but the death toll is feared to go up further after a passenger ship with more than 700 passemgers capsized off Romblon.

The number of fatalities included the more than 59 people who were killed in the province of Iloilo after flash flooding from Typhoon Frank washed out communities.

Iloilo Gov. Neil Tupaz said, "Iloilo is like an ocean. This is the worst disaster we have had in our history."

More than 30,000 people in Iloilo also scrambled onto rooftops, fleeing rushing water after a man-made dam overflowed, said the city's acting mayor Jed Mabilog.

Rescuers are also scrambling to save the more than 700 passengers of ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars, which capsized in Romblon at the height of Frank's onslaught.

Frank, upgraded from a tropical storm on Friday, swept through the country's center over the weekend, unleashing torrential rains, causing power outages and forcing the evacuations of hundreds of thousands of people.

In Shariff Kabunsuan province, at least 5,000 families have been displaced but no casualties have been reported.

Ten municipalities have also been affected, with the hardest hit towns being Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura, Parang, Upi and Kabuntalan. The local government said relief goods have been distributed to more than 3,000 affected families.

Talayan and Guindulungan towns in Maguindanao have been affected by the typhoon. Flash floods in the province killed two children and displaced at least 3,000 families.

Ten villages in Cotabato City, meanwhile, were affected by the typhoon which left two people dead and more than 1,000 people displaced. At least 200 individuals sought shelter in the Pilot Elementary School.

Some 636 people from Barangay Salambao in Obando, Bulacan have been evacuated to Obando National High School as floodwater submerged the town.

In the urban centers of Jaro and Iloilo, residents waded through waist-high waters that made roads impassable to vehicles.

The National Power Corporation was forced to shut down its power plant in the area, triggering a blackout across the province, plant manager Nelson Hemona said.

Roads connecting the southern cities of Cotabato and General Santos on Mindanao island were flooded, while a concrete bridge also collapsed, isolating some villages and towns, Catholic-run radio station DXMS reported.

The storm forced more than 200,000 people to seek temporary shelter in the eastern Bicol region, the civil defense office said.

Heavy rains battered the Bicol region overnight, and more than 600 people were stranded in various seaports there.

Typhoon Frank also uprooted small trees, blew away tin roofs and caused power outages in the central Visayas provinces.

Officials said domestic flights to the central Philippines have been suspended, while inter-island ferry services were also halted.

Government agencies were instructed to stockpile relief goods and state-run hospitals were put on alert.

President Gloria Arroyo ordered a crackdown on profiteers and hoarders of basic commodities, especially rice, in areas hit hard by the typhoon.

Article by ABS-CBN News!