page_title: Typhoon Phanfone
section_title: Visayas
hierarchical_section_title: Typhoon Phanfone / Preparations and impact / Visayas
caption_attribution_description: English: Phanfone making landfall on the Eastern Visayas on December 24
context_page_description: Typhoon Phanfone, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Ursula, was a relatively strong and deadly tropical cyclone which traversed through the Philippines on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for the first time since Nock-ten in 2016.
  The twenty-ninth and final named storm of the 2019 Pacific typhoon season, the origins of Phanfone can be traced to an upper-level low which had formed near the Caroline Islands and gradually organized into a tropical depression on December 19. Moving generally west-northwestard, the system intensified into a tropical storm on December 22 and moved into the Philippine Area of Responsibility on the following day as it continued gaining strength. Phanfone intensified to typhoon status shortly before making its first landfalls over the Eastern Visayas region on Christmas Eve. Further intensification ensued until Christmas Day despite Phanfone making several landfalls over the central Philippine islands, peaking at 150 km/h 10-minute sustained winds with a central pressure dropping to 970 hPa.
context_section_description: The PAGASA issued a signal 3 warning to Northern Samar, Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Biliran and the Camotes Islands, meaning that 65-92 knot (75-106 mph; 121–170 km/h) winds were expected. The PAGASA also issued a signal 2 warning to the Visayas, meaning that 33-65 knot (38-75 mph; 61–120 km/h) winds were to be expected within 24 hours. It was issued to the central portion of northern Cebu, northeastern Iloilo, northern Antique, Capiz, Aklan, Southern Leyte, and Negros Occidental, which meant that Phanfone was taking a similar path to the areas hit by the much stronger Typhoon Haiyan. The Visayas was the worst hit, with Iloilo City having 13 casualties alone that had been either struck by fallen trees, electrocuted or drowned. Roxas, Tacloban and Maasin all received 140 mm (5.5 inches) of rain. The extent of damage in the Philippines was quite far, with the Boracay Airport being heavily damaged as many people were stranded in the airport as the typhoon struck. A disaster response officer also reported that power outages and damage in the town of Batad in Iloilo Province made it appear as a “ghost town”. Severe flooding caused devastating damage in the many provinces and islands of Visayas as rain spread across the region, with many houses and vehicles being partially to completely submerged. Multiple houses were crumpled and trees were downed, as well as power lines being downed. All of these obstacles blocked off roads and made roads dangerous to walk on; and the excessive amounts of rainfall made ground, especially higher ground, very unstable. The province of Leyte was placed under a state of calamity following the damage of the typhoon, with livestock, crops and infrastructure being damaged in excess of $1 million USD. Most of the casualties are estimated to have taken place at Iloilo, as the village was badly hit with severe and swift-moving flash floods. Tacloban was hit as fires broke out and winds allowed them to spread but it the 220,000 inhabitants escaped the worst of the system. 147 cities were affected by power outages but by Friday, December 27, 31 of those 147 had their power restored.
caption: Phanfone making landfall on the Eastern Visayas on December 24
exif: {}