A wave, caused by typhoon Hagupit, splashes the coast in Atimonan town, Quezon province, south of Manila, December 8, 2014. Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos began to return to their homes battered by a powerful typhoon at the weekend, but the nation col
A wave, caused by typhoon Hagupit, splashes the coast in Atimonan town, Quezon province, south of Manila, December 8, 2014. Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos began to return to their homes battered by a powerful typhoon at the weekend, but the nation collectively breathed a sigh of relief as a massive evacuation plan appeared to minimize fatalities. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco (PHILIPPINES - Tags: ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY DISASTER)
A wave, caused by typhoon Hagupit, splashes the coast in Atimonan town, Quezon province, south of Manila, December 8, 2014. Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos began to return to their homes battered by a powerful typhoon at the weekend, but the nation collectively breathed a sigh of relief as a massive evacuation plan appeared to minimize fatalities. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco (PHILIPPINES - Tags: ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY DISASTER)

There are conflicting numbers as to the number of people who have died because of the fury of typhoon Ruby (Hagupit) which slammed Eastern Visayas on Saturday night, destroying more than 1,500 homes. It took the same path as super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) that battered the country in November 2013.

Reuters reported the death toll at 27. It attributed the number to Richard Gordon, chairman of Philippine Red Cross. Gordon said most of the dead drowned in floodwaters in Borongan, Eastern Samar. USA Today placed the dead count at 22, but also pointed to Gordon as the source of its data.

Gordon noted that Borongan is the farthest-most island of the Philippine archipelago, so it is not surprising to hear such a large number of fatalities due to floodwaters.

Children play in the remains of a house destroyed by Typhoon Hagupit in Dolores, Samar, in central Philippines December 8, 2014. At least 21 people were reported dead, many of them drowned as flood waters rose in Borongan, the main town in Eastern Samar, where typhoon Hagupit made first landfall, the Philippine National Red Cross said on Monday. The Philippines had evacuated more than a million people as the powerful typhoon approached the country from the Pacific, fearing a repeat of a super storm last year that left more than 7,000 dead or missing. REUTERS/Erik De Castro (PHILIPPINES - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY)

Gordon estimated the number of damaged homes at 1,500, but in the Reuters report, the number went up to 2,500.

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As of Monday night, the Philippine weather bureau, which correctly forecast the path of Ruby, had downgraded the super typhoon into a tropical storm after three landfalls, reducing its wind to 85 kph and gusts to 150 kph. Ruby was expected to ram Batangas Province south of Manila and then cross Manila Bay.

Schools, which have been converted into evacuation centres, remain close in many provinces, including Metro Manila, on Tuesday.

People queue for food at an evacuation centre for the coastal community, to shelter from typhoon Hagupit, near Manila, December 8, 2014. Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos began to return to their homes battered by a powerful typhoon at the weekend, but the nation collectively breathed a sigh of relief as a massive evacuation plan appeared to minimise fatalities. REUTERS/Cheryl Gagalac (PHILIPPINES - Tags: SOCIETY ENVIRONMENT DISASTER TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)