DAMAGE CHECK. Local officials in Catbalogan City, Samar monitor the situation during the onslaught of Typhoon Ambo (Vongfong) on May 14, 2020. Nearly 200 families in the city who moved to safer grounds returned home on Friday (May 15, 2020) as the weather improved a day after the typhoon crossed Samar Island. (Photo courtesy of Mayor Dexter Uy)
TACLOBAN CITY – Nearly 200 families in Catbalogan City in Samar, who moved to safer grounds, returned home on Friday as the weather improved a day after Typhoon “Ambo” crossed Samar Island.
Some 891 individuals or 194 families in the city were evacuated by the local government late Thursday due to strong winds and heavy rains.
The evacuees are from 13 low-lying and landslide-prone communities in the city. They took shelter in schools and chapels in their respective areas, Mayor Dexter Uy said.
Big waves pounded the platform of Catbalogan City port as the typhoon landed in neighboring Eastern Samar province Thursday afternoon.
The city and entire province of Samar experienced blackouts as “Ambo” slammed into the province.
As of 8 a.m. Friday, electricity is restored in Catbalogan City center and some villages. Power restoration was ongoing in other parts of the city.
Electricity in the towns of San Jose de Buan, Talalora, Daram, and Zumarraga is still down as of Friday noon.
While Typhoon Ambo battered Samar provinces, a fire broke out in Villareal town that razed seven houses.
The fire started around 6:45 p.m., in Merkado village due to an unattended candle on the second floor of a residential house.
The Bureau of Fire Protection estimated around PHP650,000 cost of damage with no injury. (PNA)
