MANILA, Philippines— The two-day visit of Typhoon “Ompong” (international name: Mangkhut) left several areas in the country devastated.
Ompong, the strongest storm to hit in 2018, entered the Philippine area of responsibility on Wednesday afternoon.
It made a landfall in Baggao, Cagayan at 1:40 a.m. on Saturday and left PAR that evening as it barreled towards southern China.
The typhoon rocked Hong Kong before striking mainland China on Sunday, injuring scores and sending skyscrapers swaying, after killing at least 49 people in the Philippines and ripping a swathe of destruction through its agricultural heartland.
The world's biggest storm this year left large expanses in the north of the main Philippine island of Luzon underwater as fierce winds tore trees from the ground and rain unleashed dozens of landslides.
In the town of Baggao, the typhoon demolished houses, tore off roofs and downed power lines. Some roads were cut off by landslides and many remained submerged.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, more than 70,000 families or over 270,000 people were affected by the typhoon.
The Philippine National Police said the death toll jumped to 49 on Sunday evening as more landslide victims were discovered.
Prices of vegetables from typhoon stricken-areas are also expected to increase.
Farms across northern Luzon, which produces much of the nation's rice and corn, were sitting under muddy floodwater, their crops ruined just a month before harvest.
Here are photos of the aftermath of the deadly typhoon. —Rosette Adel with reports from AFP/Elaine Yu and Purple Romero