Coron in Palawan province in the Philippines was hit hard by Typhoon Haiyan, leaving at least six people dead and others wounded.
The typhoon wreaked havoc on the city, which has a population of about 43,000 people. Pictures from the scene show people carting away the dead and beginning to move debris.
Vice Mayor Jim Pe of the town on Busuanga, the last island battered by the typhoon before it blew away to the South China Sea, said most of the houses and buildings there had been destroyed or damaged.
“It was like a 747 flying just above my roof,” he said, describing the sound of the winds. He said his family and some of his neighbors whose houses were destroyed took shelter in his basement.
The Palawan PDRRMO said that about 80% of the tourist boats in Coron were damaged, and that the typhoon leveled almost all of the trees.
There are about 6,000 evacuees in the city. The municipal council declared Coron under a state of calamity.
The Coron Mayor’s Office said the six people verified dead are:
Nicanor Roxas, Erwin Roque, Carlos Catamora, Carlito Arcamo, Hover Castillon, and Crisencio Saligbon. Crispin Magon is missing.
There is still no power or water supply as of Monday morning.
Coron Mayor Clara Reyes told the Philippine Inquirer that the town has appealed for outside help, saying they were fast running out of resources to feed over 14,000 evacuees and homeless residents in the town proper alone.
“The airport’s terminal is completely (destroyed),” she said. “We are cut off from air and sea.”
Some tourists are also trapped in the town.
Nine remote and island villages of Coron have been cut off from the town center and she hasn’t received any information on the situation in these villages.
Story developing; check back for updates
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