Typhoon cuts off electricity in Eastern Visayas

MAASIN, Southern Leyte–Power outages swept through most of Eastern Visayas early Friday as strong winds of Supertyphoon Yolanda hammered Leyte and Southern Leyte early Friday morning.

An advisory from the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines showed that at least three power facilities in Eastern Visayas had tripped off, affecting the provinces of Eastern Samar, Leyte and Southern Leyte.

The 5 a.m. advisory did not explain the precise cause of the power trip-off. It said only that for the safety of their linemen, inspection and repair of lines damaged by the typhoon would be carried out as soon as the weather improved.

At least 50,000 people from 19 towns were evacuated as the typhoon, the strongest to hit the Philippines this year, slammed into Southern Leyte about 5 a.m. on Friday, toppling trees and blowing off roofs.

Several roads were rendered impassable due to fallen trees, said Danilo Atienza, Southern Leyte disaster management officer.

He said he could not give a detailed report of the damage as strong winds prevented action officers from venturing out into the field.