A typhoon killed at least 20 people as it churned across the Philippines and shut down the capital, cutting power and prompting the evacuation of more than 400,000 residents, rescue officials said, according to The Associated Press.
The eye of Typhoon Rammasun, the strongest storm to hit the country this year, passed south of Manila after cutting a path across the main island of Luzon, toppling trees and power lines and causing electrocutions and widespread blackouts, the AP reported.
By Wednesday evening, the storm was easing in the capital and markets and public offices were due to reopen on Thursday. Some schools were to remain closed, according to the AP.
Manila Electric Company said 76 percent of the area it serves was without power, compared with 86 percent earlier in the day, the AP reported.
"Our weather is improving as the typhoon is moving further away," Rene Paciente of the weather bureau said, adding storm alerts in various part of the country were lifted or lowered, according to the AP. Officials said 460,000 had been affected by the storm.
Major roads across Luzon were blocked by debris, fallen trees, electricity poles and tin roofs ripped off village houses, the AP reported. The storm uprooted trees in the capital, where palm trees lining major arteries were bent over by the wind as broken hoardings bounced down the streets.
Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson and Admiral Alexander Pama, the executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, surveyed the typhoon-affected areas by helicopter, according to the AP.
"I am happily surprised because of the minimal casualties and damage," Singson said, adding the typhoon had passed through the most populated area of the country, with about 17 million people living in its path, the AP reported.
Singson and Pama said the government was more prepared after the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan in November, evacuating people at risk in coastal and landslide-prone areas well before the typhoon made landfall, according to the AP.
