Typhoon Frank post-mortem

[Twin-Skies]

Like it or not, power failures and flooding were the least of our worries after Frank hit RP:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnew..._id=144185

MANILA, Philippines -- Hundreds are feared dead after a ferry carrying more than 700 passengers and crew sank in rough seas during a typhoon off Sibuyan Island, officials and reports said Sunday.

The MV Princess of the Stars went down at around noon Saturday (0400 GMT) several kilometers off the coast of Sibuyan, in Romblon province after being battered by huge waves when its engines failed, officials and survivors said.

Four bodies washed ashore on Sibuyan and four survivors were found, but the death toll is likely to rise sharply with the fate of the rest of the passengers and crew unknown, officials and reports said.

The increasingly desperate search for survivors was halted for the evening as frantic relatives descended on the offices of the ferry company demanding to know why the ship had been allowed to set sail with a typhoon approaching.

One of the known survivors, crew member Reynato Lanorio, said the ship listed and sank in just 15 terrifying minutes.

"It seemed like everything happened in 15 minutes. Next thing we knew, the ship had gone under," he said, adding the captain of the 23,824-tonne vessel gave orders to abandon ship shortly after it listed, sending passengers and crew scrambling for life rafts.

"Many of us managed to get on the lifeboats, but I don't know if they survived," the crew member told DZBB radio from his hospital bed where he was being treated for cuts to his face.

He added four other people on his raft were wrenched away by the huge waves while he clung on for dear life.

Some reports said the vessel began taking water after the hull of the ferry developed a hole. Witnesses reported lifejackets from the doomed vessel washing ashore along with the shoes of children and other debris.

"There were many plastic slippers of children also found floating on the shore but no survivors," said Nanette Tansingco, mayor of San Fernando, a coastal town on Sibuyan about 260 kilometers (160 miles) south of Manila.

The ship, en route from the capital Manila to the central island of Cebu and 16 hours into its 22-hour voyage, issued a distress signal before going down.

A moment of silence for those whose lives were snuffed out so abruptly...