MANILA, Philippines — Electricity was restored in the Philippine capital, flights resumed and schools reopened Thursday after the first typhoon of the season killed at least 26 people and plunged most of the main northern island into darkness. Thirty-eight people remained missing, mostly fishermen caught by Typhoon Conson’s fury at sea.

Electricity was restored to most of Manila and nearby provinces after Conson, packing winds of 75 miles (120 kilometers) per hour, slammed ashore late Tuesday and early Wednesday, toppling power lines, downing trees and ripping off roofs and tarpaulin billboards. Flights at the Manila international airport also resumed and schools reopened. Heavy rains, unrelated to the typhoon, have also wreaked havoc in China and Japan. The death toll from rain-triggered landslides rose to 41 in western China, and workers raced to drain overflowing reservoirs in the southeast. Flooding has killed more than 100 people in China so far this month, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Storm in southern and western Japan left two dead and three missing. An elderly woman drowned in a swollen river and another woman in her 70s was found buried in a landslide in Hiroshima, western Japan, according to Hiroshima police. Two women in their 70s also were missing there, as was an 82-year-old man in neighboring Shimane prefecture. More rain was predicted Thursday in both Japan and China. Conson, which weakened into a tropical storm over the South China Sea, was forecast to make another landfall along the Chinese-Vietnamese border this weekend.

In the Philippines, many died while fleeing the typhoon’s fury, regional disaster operations officer Fred Bragas said. The 26 deaths were spread over six provinces and areas near Manila. Newly elected President Benigno Aquino III scolded the weather bureau for failing to predict that the storm would hit Manila, which left government agencies unprepared for the onslaught. The Philippines is hit by about 20 typhoons and storms a year, gaining a reputation as the welcome mat for the most destructive cyclones from the Pacific. Last year, back-to-back typhoons inundated Manila and outlying provinces, killing nearly 1,000 people. Several people were killed by falling debris or electrocuted. One man drowned trying to save a dozen pigs in a swollen lake south of Manila, while his companion was swept away and is missing, Bragas said. Twenty-seven out of 30 towns in Laguna province were flooded and the governor declared a state of calamity. A concrete wall collapsed and pinned four carpenters to death while a landslide killed a man in his house in nearby Tagaytay city. The man’s son remains missing in the landslide, Bragas said. In Quezon province, four fishermen drowned and 18 others were rescued after huge waves and strong winds battered their motor boats as they raced toward an island to seek shelter late Tuesday, provincial Gov. David Suarez told. Villagers and the coast guard have launched a search for 27 missing fishermen, he said.
Three vessels, including an LPG carrier, sank during the typhoon and most of the crew were rescued while some are missing. Another nine fishermen were rescued after big waves overturned their boats off the island province of Catanduanes, regional military spokesman Maj. Harold Cabunoc said. The other 10 remained missing.

Eighteen people were killed and 57 others are missing as Tropical Storm Conson moved over the Philippines, the country’s National Disaster Coordinating Council reported Wednesday. The storm, known locally as "Basyang," had weakened slightly, the council said. As of 4 p.m. Wednesday (4 a.m. ET), its maximum sustained winds were at 53 mph (85 kph) near its center and gusts of up to 62 mph (100 kph). Conson made landfall on the northern Philippine island of Luzon late Tuesday, about 41 miles (66 kilometers) east of the capital, Manila. It was back over the South China Sea, about 112 miles (180 kilometers) west of Iba, as of Wednesday afternoon. Four people died when a warehouse under construction collapsed, the council said. Several people were hit by fallen debris and several others drowned. Twelve people were injured by debris. The missing included 25 fishermen.

Nearly 500 houses were reported damaged. Many were still without power, although it had been restored in some areas. More than 4,000 people were stranded in various ports, along with 26 vessels, the council said. The storm is expected to move into southern China on Friday, but the Joint Typhoon Warning Center is predicting little or no intensification before landfall there. Heavy rain and flooding will be a concern for southern China. The storm became the first typhoon of 2010 on Monday before losing some steam. While some flooding was reported after heavy rains, most roads and bridges were passable, the council said.It would take two to three days to repair at least five major transmission lines after cables and wires were cut on Tuesday night by falling trees, posts and strong winds, said Guillermo Redoblado, spokesman for the national grid corporation.

"The 2-3 days estimate is very conservative because we have not completed our assessment," Redoblado told ANC television, adding about 850 megawatts of capacity would be restored in the next 24-48 hours. "By the end of the day, we can say half of the requirements of Meralco will be provided for." Meralco, the main power distributor in the capital and six nearby provinces, provides electricity to 4.7 million households. Provinces neighbouring the capital were hit harder by Conson, which weakened to a tropical storm after reaching Luzon but sill carried winds of 95 kph (59 mph) and gusts of up to 120 kph. In the central province of Camarines Norte, four people drowned at sea and two were killed by falling trees, and 40 more people were missing, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo said. Five people were killed and six were missing in Batangas and Cavite provinces, south of Manila, local officials said. Conson was expected to be out of Philippine territorial waters by Thursday and reach southern China in 24-48 hours, the weather bureau said. it was expected to regain strength as it moved over the South China Sea.

STOCK MARKET HIGH

Across Manila and surrounding provinces, the storm felled trees and covered roads in debris and stopped train services. Hundreds of families moved to temporary shelter areas due to flash floods. The Agriculture Department said it was too early to make an assessment of any damage to rice and coconut crops in the provinces that were in Conson’s path. Philippine financial markets opened as normal on Wednesday, showing little reaction to the storm as buildings in the central business district were powered by back-up generators. The stock market rose 1.1 percent to its highest close in 2-½ years, lifted by broad gains in Asian stocks.  President Benigno Aquino III scolded the weather bureau for inaccurate forecasts at a meeting of National Disaster Coordinating Council at the main army base in Manila.
"That information is sorely lacking and we have had this problem for quite a long time," Aquino told the weather bureau.
"You do what you are supposed to do and this is not acceptable. I hope this is the last time that we are brought to areas different from where we should be."
Dozens of domestic and international flights were either suspended or diverted from Manila’s main airport. Schools were closed but some government offices suspended operations as the country began cleaning up the debris left by Conson. Typhoons and tropical storms regularly hit the Philippines, China, Taiwan and Japan in the second half of the year, gathering strength from the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean or South China Sea before normally weakening over land. Last year, Typhoon Ketsana, known in the Philippines as Ondoy, dumped record rain that submerged 80 percent of the capital region and nearby areas, killing 277 people, leaving tens of thousands homeless and causing more than $100 million of damage to crops, infrastructure and property.
 

Tropical Storm Conson rolled westward across the Philippines on Wednesday morning, stranding more than 1,300 people across the archipelago and forcing the Philippine National Disaster Coordinating Council to issue warnings about flash floods, landslides and big waves. Conson made landfall with maximum sustained winds of 69 mph on the northern Philippine island of Luzon, about 41 miles east of the capital, Manila, on Tuesday evening. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday (10 a.m. ET), sustained winds were down to about 59 mph in the center, with gusts up to 74 mph, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council.