Philippine typhoon death toll jumps

Typhoon Hagupit weakens and heads towards Manila after
killing 23 people , mostly in central region .
At least 23 people have been killed , many of whom in central
Philippines, after Typhoon Hagupit hit , Red Cross officials
say.
Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine National Red
Cross, told Al Jazeera on Monday that most of the fatalities
were from the province of Eastern Samar .
"We hope it [ death toll ] won' t go up anymore, but the
reality is it may likely still go up. "
Earlier reports suggested that only three people had died
after the typhoon struck , forcing more than a million into
shelters .
Floods, damaged shanties and ripped off tin roofs were a
common sight across the region on Monday, as Hagupit
headed towards Manila .
The typhoon, which made landfall in Eastern Samar late on
Saturday, has weakened considerably and was moving
slowly , dumping heavy rain .
Al Jazeera ' s Andrew Thomas, reporting from the city of
Batangas , said the rainfall could trigger landslides and flash
floods .
He reported that most government offices , schools and
private businesses in Manila remained shut .
Learning from Haiyan
Traumatised by the death and destruction from Typhoon
Haiyan last year , more than a million people fled to more
than 1 , 000 emergency shelters and safer grounds as Hagupit
approached.
Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said more than 3, 000
residents of a shantytown on the edge of Manila Bay had
been evacuated due to possible storm surges .
Metropolitan Manila has a population of more than 12 million
people .
Two people , including a baby girl , died of hypothermia in
central Iloilo province on Saturday at the height of the
typhoon, disaster- response agency chief Alexander Pama
told a news conference .
Another person died after being hit by a falling tree in the
eastern town of Dolores , where the typhoon first made
landfall, according to Interior Secretary Mar Roxas .
Displaced villagers were asked to return home from
emergency shelters in provinces where the danger posed by
the typhoon had waned , including Albay , where more than
half a million people were advised to leave evacuation sites.
Nearly 12 , 000 villagers , however , will remain in
government shelters in Albay because their homes lie near the
restive Mayon volcano .