Tropical storm leaves 8 dead, thousands displaced in Philippines after flooding and landslide

A tropical storm set off flooding and a landslide in the southern Philippines, leaving at least eight people dead, displacing more than 28,000 and trapping residents in houses in two flooded villages, officials said Friday. Tropical Storm Penha slammed ashore onto the southeastern province of Surigao del Sur from the Pacific late Thursday. It weakened into a tropical depression Friday night and was last tracked off the central province of Cebu with sustained winds of up to 55 kilometers (34 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 75 kph (47 mph), according to the country's weather agency. A couple and two children died Thursday night when their shanty was hit by a landslide in a quarry area that was set off by torrential rains in a village in southern Cagayan de Oro city. Three others drowned in floodwaters in southern Iligan city and another villager drowned in Carmen town in Agusan del Norte province. More than 28,000 villagers were displaced due to the storm, with most evacuating to emergency shelters in southern and central provinces. Classes were suspended in many areas. More than 7,400 passengers and cargo workers were stranded in 78 seaports after interisland passenger ferries and cargo ships were temporarily prohibited from venturing into rough seas, the Philippine Coast Guard said. Penha, locally named Basyang, was forecast to further weaken as it blows northwestward across central island provinces.