Severe Tropical Storm ''Opong'' left three people dead and six missing as it battered provinces in Eastern Visayas and Bicol Region since Thursday night.

Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Bicol Region spokesperson Gremil Naz said a 30 year-old was reportedly struck by a fallen tree in Monreal, Masbate while a 16 year-old was hit by the wall of their house previously exposed to fire in Masbate City. Another victim is a six year-old boy who drowned in Masbate City.

Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Officer-in-Charge Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV did not give further detail but he added there were six people who were reported missing in Eastern Visayas.

"These are still for validation (referring to fatalities) and we have reported six missing in Region VIII, that was five plus one. Hopefully those six who were missing will be found alive," he said.

''Opong'' made its first landfall as a typhoon over San Policarpio, Eastern Samar around 11:30 pm on Thursday.

It weakened into a severe tropical storm before it made the second landfall in the area of Palanas, Masbate at 4 am Friday.

According to Masbate Gov. Richard Kho, a total of 16 trauma patients including two minors were rushed to the emergency room of their provincial hospital as of 10 am.

Kho said based on initial assessment there were a total of 182 barangays affected by the storm, comprising 20 municipalities and one city.

"We have 6,680 families or around 21,861 individuals affected by the storm," he said.

"We need help for the clearing operations because most of our road networks are not passable so the goods and food packs and our assistance cannot come in and of course another problem is our electricity due to a lot of electric posts that fell here," he added.

Kho is also asking the assistance of the government for the deployment of air assets that would help them make a rapid damage assessment and needs analysis in the affected areas.

As of 12 noon, the PCG has monitored 7,448 passengers, truck drivers, cargo helpers; 3,063 rolling cargoes; 165 vessels, and 54 motorbancas stranded in 114 ports affected by Opong.

It also noted that a total of 405 vessels and 128 motorbancas were taking shelter due to the bad weather.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) recorded a total of 138 flights affected by Opong, of which 134 were cancelled and four others were diverted. Robina Asido/DMS