Manila: Typhoon Bualoi battered the eastern Philippines with heavy rains and strong winds, leaving 10 people dead and displacing more than 433,000 individuals, officials said on Friday.

According to Ghana News Agency, Bualoi, locally called Opong, made landfall in the province of Eastern Samar on Thursday evening, with sustained winds of up to 120 kilometres per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 165 kph, the state weather bureau reported. The typhoon made further landfall five more times across the provinces of Masbate, Romblon, and Oriental Mindoro on Friday and has since weakened to a severe tropical storm. It is currently packing maximum sustained winds of up to 110 kph with gusts up to 150 kph.

Seven fatalities occurred due to drowning in floods and storm surges in three towns in Biliran province, as stated by Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro, deputy administrator of the national civil defence office. In Masbate province, a 16-year-old boy was crushed by a collapsed wall, and a 30-year-old man was pinned down by a fallen tree, while a 6-year-old boy drowned, described Gremil Naz, a spokesman for the regional civil defence office.

Thirteen individuals, including nine fishermen and four elderly individuals, remain missing after being swept away by storm surges, Alejandro added. The storm’s impact was severe, with social media footage showing roofs torn off houses, toppled power lines and trees, and houses made from lightweight materials collapsing. Coastal communities were inundated by storm surges, and five fishermen who ventured out before the typhoon hit are reported missing in Masbate.

More than 330,000 displaced residents were from the eastern region of Bicol, with the remaining 100,000 from the eastern Visayas region, and the provinces of Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan. Storm warnings were issued for approximately 30 provinces, including the capital region of Manila, and areas recently affected by Typhoon Ragasa, which resulted in 12 deaths and nearly 25,000 people displaced.

In response to the severe weather, schools and government offices were closed in several provinces, and sea travel was suspended, leaving 9,149 passengers stranded in 119 ports across seven regions, the coast guard reported. Additionally, civil aviation authorities announced the cancellation of over 100 domestic flights.