Philippines Storm

A powerful typhoon wrecked houses, caused towering tidal surges and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee to emergency shelters as it cut across the northern Philippines on Sunday in the sixth major storm to hit the country in less than a month. Typhoon Man-yi slammed into the eastern island province of Catanduanes on Saturday night with sustained winds of up to 195 kilometers (125 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 240 kph (149 mph). The country's weather agency warned of a potentially catastrophic and life-threatening situation in provinces along its path. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the typhoon, which was forecast to blow northwestward on Sunday across northern Luzon, the archipelago's most populous region. The capital region of metropolitan Manila would likely be spared from a direct hit but was placed, along with outlying regions, under storm alerts and warned of dangerous coastal storm surges. The rain was minimal, but the wind was very strong a

The fifth major storm in three weeks approached the Philippines on Thursday, prompting more largescale evacuations and a United Nations request for emergency funds to help the government ease the plight of hard-hit villagers. Typhoon Usagi had sustained winds of up to 185 kilometers (115 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 230 kph (143 mph) and was forecast to strengthen further before slamming Thursday afternoon into the coast of Cagayan province at the northern tip of Luzon, the country's most populous agricultural region. Another storm was brewing in the Pacific and may hit the northern Philippines this weekend, according to forecasters. The country's weather agency warned of life-threatening tidal surges of up to three meters (nearly 10 feet) in coastal areas of Cagayan and seven other nearby provinces and clusters of islands, and urged all ships to remain in port or immediately take shelter. Typhoon Toraji blew away from the northern Philippines just two days ago after unleashi

A new typhoon barreled across an agricultural region in the northeastern Philippines on Monday after thousands were evacuated to safety while still struggling to recover from the devastation caused by three successive storms in the last three weeks. Typhoon Toraji slammed into northeastern Aurora province and was forecast to blow over the mountainous Luzon region, where President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. just the day before inspected the damage from the last storm and led the distribution of food packs to residents in Cagayan and Ilocos provinces. Marcos skipped this week's Asia-Pacific Cooperation forum in Peru to oversee recovery efforts from back-to-back storms. After making landfall in Aurora on Monday morning with sustained winds of up to 130 kilometers (81 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 180 kph (112 mph), the typhoon was expected to barrel northwestward across Luzon, weaken as it crosses a mountain range and then blow into the South China Sea. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remul

Villagers in northern Philippine provinces were forced to evacuate on Wednesday as a powerful typhoon approached the nation still reeling from a recent storm that left at least 182 dead and missing and emergency shelters crammed with displaced people. Typhoon Kong-rey was last tracked 350 kilometers (217 miles) east of northern Cagayan province, with sustained winds of up to 185 kph (115 mph) and gusting up to 230 kph (143 mph). Forecasters said it could further strengthen at sea. It was blowing northwestward and was predicted to pass near the northernmost Philippine province of Batanes before slamming into southeastern Taiwan on Thursday. "We are still recovering from the two previous typhoon and storm and here we go again, Batanes Governor Marilou Cayco told The Associated Press. "We're going around now to supervise the forced evacuation of people, specially those whose houses were severely damaged by the last storm, Cayco said. Elsewhere across the northern Philippines, more th

The number of dead and missing in massive flooding and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Trami in the Philippines has reached nearly 130 and the president said Saturday that many areas remained isolated with people in need of rescue. Trami blew away from the northwestern Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 85 people dead and 41 others missing in in one of the Southeast Asian archipelago's deadliest and most destructive storms so far this year, the government's disaster-response agency said. The death toll was expected to rise as reports come in from previously isolated areas. Dozens of police, firefighters and other emergency personnel, backed by three backhoes and sniffer dogs, dug up one of the last two missing villagers in the lakeside town of Talisay in Batangas province Saturday. A father, who was waiting for word on his missing 14-year-old daughter, wept as rescuers placed the remains in a black body bag. Distraught, he followed police officers, who carried the body bag

A fierce storm was blowing out of the northern Philippines Tuesday after leaving at least 14 people dead in landslides, floods and swollen rivers, disaster-response officials said. Tropical Storm Yagi swept past Paoay town in Ilocos Norte province into the South China Sea with sustained winds of up to 75 kilometers (47 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 125 kph (78 mph), according to the weather bureau. It was forecast to strengthen into a typhoon as it barrels northwestward over the sea toward southern China. Storm warnings remained in most northern Philippine provinces, where residents were warned of the lingering danger of landslides in rain-soaked mountain villages and floodings in the farming lowlands of Luzon, the country's most populous region. Locally called Enteng, Yagi enhanced seasonal monsoon rains and unleashed downpours across Luzon, including in the densely populated capital region, metropolitan Manila, where classes and government work remained suspended Tuesday. A

A slow-moving storm unleashed pounding rains that flooded many northern Philippine areas overnight into Monday, prompting authorities to suspend classes and government work in the capital region and warn thousands of residents to prepare to evacuate from flood-prone villages along a key river. Tropical Storm Yagi was blowing over the coastal waters of Vinzons town in Camarines Norte province, southeast of Manila, on Monday with sustained winds of up to 75 kilometers (47 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 90 kph (56 mph), according to the weather bureau. The storm, locally called Enteng, was moving northwestward at 10 kph (6 mph) near the eastern coast of the main northern region of Luzon, where the weather bureau warned of possible flash floods and landslides in mountainous provinces. A resident died after being electrocuted in Naga city in eastern Camarines Sur province, where floodwaters swamped several communities, police said. Authorities were verifying if the death was ...

Torrential rains have left at least seven people dead and three others missing in southeastern China, state media said on Tuesday, raising the death toll from a tropical storm to 22. All the deaths have been in Hunan province. Heavy rains have been falling on eastern Hunan for days as Tropical Storm Gaemi moved inland after making landfall at typhoon strength in neighbouring Fujian province on the Chinese coast. Four deaths and three missing people were reported in four villages in Zixing city, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The rain has damaged hundreds of homes in the city and prompted the evacuation of more than 11,000 people, Xinhua said. The bodies of three other missing people were found in a village in a nearby city, state broadcaster CCTV said in an online report. They were victims of a sudden mudslide caused by the rain, according to CCTV. The seven deaths are in an area south of a summertime tourist region where a mudslide killed 15 people and injured six others af

Taiwan shuttered offices, schools and tourist sites across the island Wednesday ahead of a powerful typhoon that already worsened seasonal rains in the Philippines, killed at least eight people and displaced 600,000. Typhoon Gaemi's outer skirt was bringing heavy rain to much of Taiwan, where a direct landfall was expected Wednesday evening in the northern county of Ylan. Fishing boats were recalled to port amid turbulent seas, while air travelers were rushing to board overseas flights before the storm arrives, amid numerous cancellations. On Wednesday morning, the typhoon was east of Taiwan moving at 13 kilometres per hour with maximum sustained wind speeds of 162 kilometres per hour, gusting at 198 kilometres per hour, the Central Weather Administration said. In the capital Taipei, heavy rain was falling, but high winds had not yet arrived. Gaemi, which was called Carina in the Philippines, did not make landfall in the archipelago but enhanced its seasonal monsoon rains. The rains

Nearly 100 people have died in one of the most destructive storms to lash the Philippines this year with dozens more feared missing after villagers fled in the wrong direction and got buried in a boulder-laden mud slide, while more than a million others were swamped by floodwater in several provinces, officials said Monday. At least 53 of 98 people who died mostly in flooding and landslides were from Maguindanao in the Bangsamoro autonomous region, which was swamped by unusually heavy rains set off by Tropical Storm Nalgae. The storm blew out of the country and into the South China Sea on Sunday, leaving a trail of destruction in a large swath of the archipelago. A large contingent of rescuers with bulldozers and backhoes resumed retrieval work in southern Kusiong village in the hard-hit province of Maguindanao, where as many as 80 to 100 people, including entire families, are feared to have been buried by a boulder-laden mudslide or swept away by flash floods that started overnig

One disaster response officer described the battered coastal town of Batad in Iloilo province as a "ghost town" on Christmas Day

Rescuers said a total of 103 houses were carried off by rampaging floodwaters in Dalama

Strong winds toppled trees, knocking out power while floods, small landslides blocked roads and buried some homes