Signal No. 3 still up over northern Palawan, Calamian Group of Islands

MANILA, Philippines – Typhoon “Pablo” (international name Bopha) is heading out of the country Wednesday afternoon after leaving hundreds dead in its wake and hundreds more injured or missing.

“Pablo” was located at 110 kilometers northwest of Roxas, northern Palawan and was moving slower northwest at 15 kilometers per hour, according to the 5 p.m. weather bulletin from the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

“Pablo” was still packing maximum sustained winds of 120 kph and gustiness of up to 150 kph, Pagasa said.

Signal number 3 remains in northern Palawan and the Calamian Group of Islands. The rest of Palawan is still under signal number 2 while only Occidental Mindoro remains under signal number 1, Pagasa said.

The number of casualties from Pablo has already exceeded 200 with many more injured and unaccounted for.

There were 142 recorded dead in Compostela Valley according to Lieutenant Colonel Lyndon Paniza, Army 10th infantry division.

In Davao Oriental province where Pablo made landfall, 114 have been reported dead according to their Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) has officially recorded 95 casualties with 61 injured persons.

More than 200,000 people or almost 45,000 families the Mindanao and Visayas regions have been affected by Pablo, the NDRRMC said.