effort to construct a barrier against Ike's storm surge. Hundreds of thousands of residents evacuated from coastal areas. Offshore, four foreign oil companies evacuated workers off of drilling rigs in the South China Sea. Further north, in Hong Kong, a No 1. hurricane signal was issued on September 4 and later that day was upped to a No 3. hurricane signal, but this signal was dropped once the storm dissipated inland. Impact Philippines Upon making landfall on northeastern Mindanao on September 1, Ike became the strongest tropical cyclone to strike the Philippines since Typhoon Joan of the 1970 Pacific typhoon season. Typhoon Ike also struck the country a mere four days after Tropical Storm June inundated the northern portion of the country, which claimed 53 lives. The islands were also suffering from the worst economic crisis since independence in 1946. Power was knocked out to much of the country for four days. The typhoon left a path of destruction in the Philippines that was at its time unparalleled in modern Philippine history. Most of the fatalities were in the province of Surigao del Norte, where around 1,000 died and 27 towns were flattened. More than half of Surigao del Norte's cattle, goat, and pig population were killed. Waves slammed into the provincial capital of Surigao City, which resulted in 85 casualties. Around 90% of homes in the city were leveled, leaving 90,000 out the town's 135,000 citizens homeless. Fresh water shortages occurred after power was lost in Surigao City. To the southwest in Mainit, numerous homes were swept away after Lake Mainit overflowed its banks, leading to the deaths of over 200 people. On nearby Nonoc Island, 101 were killed, primarily due to drownings, and all but 20 houses of the 2,000 on the island were demolished. Provincewide, 330 people were wounded and 70% of homes, mostly made of wood, and 80% of buildings were destroyed, which resulted in 480,000 homeless. Typhoon Ike was considered the worst typhoon to affect the province in 20 years. Further south, in the province of Surigao del Sur, 16 people perished. Ten boats sunk offshore the capital city of Manila, where more than 6,000 residences were destroyed. However, the capital was spared the inner core of the typhoon. Elsewhere, in Cebu, thousands of refugees stayed in town halls and churches during the storm; 10 people were injured by flying debris and another 12 went