Typhoon Bopha: 40 Dead In Philippines

More than 40 people have been killed in a powerful typhoon in the Philippines, including soldiers and villagers who were in an army truck that was washed away.

Typhoon Bopha, packing winds of up to 130mph, hit land on Mindanao island's east coast at dawn on Tuesday.

At least 33 of the victims drowned in the town of New Bataan when torrents of water dumped by the typhoon rampaged down a mountain. 

Governor Arturo Uy said the victims included villagers who had fled from their homes to a village hall, which was swamped by the flash flood, and those on board the army truck that was swept away.

The typhoon made landfall on Mindanao island

The dead included three children who were buried by the wall of mud and boulders that plunged into the village of Marapat.

Their bodies were wrapped in blankets by their grieving relatives and placed on a stage in a basketball court.

"The only thing we could do was to save ourselves. It was too late for us to rescue them," Valentin Pabilana, who survived the landslide, said.

The death toll could rise further because several other bodies could not immediately be retrieved from floodwaters strewn with huge logs and debris, governor Uy said.

Army troops and police were not able to reach the town because access roads were blocked by landslides and fallen trees, he said.

Trees were brought down across a wide area hit by the typhoon

Eight people have died elsewhere on Mindanao island in the country's south.

About 60,000 people fled their homes to escape what was the strongest storm to hit the country this year.

Two entire provinces lost power and more than 100 domestic flights were cancelled.

Residents evacuated high-risk coastal villages and along rivers, including in southern provinces that were devastated by a deadly storm a year ago.

Typhoon Bopha, which has a 370-mile wide rain band, was expected to barrel across southern and central provinces before blowing out into the South China Sea on Thursday, forecasters said.

:: The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons a year, with 1,500 deaths recorded last year from storms.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Typhoon Bopha: 40 Dead In Philippines

Dengan url

http://plumpangraya.blogspot.com/2012/12/typhoon-bopha-40-dead-in-philippines.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Typhoon Bopha: 40 Dead In Philippines

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Typhoon Bopha: 40 Dead In Philippines

sebagai sumbernya