Fengshen made a direct hit on the Philippines and China, causing severe damage and resulted in at least 1,371 deaths and leaving 87 people missing.
On June 17, 2008, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) started to monitor a tropical depression that had developed about 115 km (70 mi) to the north-west of Melekeok, Palau.
[1] Later that day the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert as convective banding had continued to consolidate around the low level circulation centre.
[2] Early the next day the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) named the depression as Frank.
Around June 24 22:00 UTC, Tropical Storm Fengshen made landfall on Shenzhen, Guangdong, entering Mainland China.
There also was another error which instead of a continuous westward movement moving away from the Philippines, which, due to a weakening of the Subtropical ridge, the storm slowed over Panay and steadily turned northward, lashing the country's northern and central regions.
The Philippine National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) on June 23, 2008, reported that: 98 people died, 115 were missing, 66 were hurt, 99,687 families were affected, 155,564 houses were damaged, 53,706 were totally wrecked, and 109,837 were partially destroyed, in 10 regions, due to typhoon "Frank" as of Monday noon (excluding the MV Princess of the Stars incident).
[19] The Philippines National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) reported that "Frank" damaged a total of P 3.2 billion worth of agricultural and fish products and more than 300 schools nationwide (P 212 million).
[20][21] According to the latest NDCC Situation Report on Typhoon Frank (Fengshen), 557 were dead (excluding the deaths in the MV Princess of the Stars), 87 were missing and 826 wounded.
The most affected areas were Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan and Antique in Panay Island as well as Leyte and Eastern Samar in Region VIII.
[22] A ferry, the Princess of the Stars, capsized near Sibuyan Island in San Fernando, Romblon, and the Philippine Coast Guard was unable to make a rescue attempt because of high waves.
[23] A rescue ship reached the MV Princess of the Stars, more than 24 hours after it lost radio contact at 12:30 p.m. EDT (04:30 GMT) on Saturday.
Four survivors, Jesus Gica, Oliver Amorin, Jessie Buot, and Renato Lanorio, told GMA news that "the ship did not malfunction, but only slowed down its speed as it encountered big waves off the coast of Romblon."
Gica saw many people jump, but "the waves were so big and the rains so strong that few of them could have possibly survived; the crew were so busy saving themselves that they did not care to help the passengers to wear safety vests, and that some of the passengers passed out while children and the elderly failed to wear life vests because they could no longer move when the ship was turning upside down.
The victims' families accused Sulpicio and the Philippine Coast Guard of allowing the ship to set sail despite the bad weather.
Sulpicio's counsel Manuel Espitan, however stated that "the ship never received advice from Coast Guard, while Metro Manila was still under public storm signal No.
The BMI recommended that Marina "consider the suspension of the Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) of Sulpicio Lines in accordance with existing laws, rules and regulations (and its criminal liability for the sinking)."
The final report blamed human error, and ruled that the ship's missing and presumed dead captain, Florencio Marimon, "miscalculated" the risk of continuing the trip to Cebu while the storm raged: "There was a failure of the master to exercise extraordinary diligence and good seamanship thereby committing an error of judgment.
[50] Due to the high number of deaths caused by the storm, PAGASA announced that they would be retiring the name Frank at the end of the season from future use within their area of responsibility.