Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




SHAKE AND BLOW
52 dead as typhoon lashes Philippines
by Staff Writers
Manila (AFP) Dec 4, 2012


A typhoon slammed into the southern Philippines Tuesday, setting off a mudslide that killed 44 people, tearing up trees, causing floods and forcing thousands to flee their homes to emergency shelters.

Typhoon Bopha, the strongest storm to hit the country this year, killed at least 52 people in total after making landfall on the east coast of Mindanao island at dawn, packing winds of 210 kilometres (130 miles) an hour.

A mudslide in a mountainous area near an army patrol base in New Bataan town killed 43 civilians and a soldier, and injured more than two dozen others, local military spokesman Lyndon Paniza told reporters by telephone.

An ABS-CBN television reporter said she counted the bodies laid out in a government building that was converted into a temporary mortuary.

An army truck laden with soldiers and civilians was swept away in a flash flood that hit the town, a local official reported earlier.

The typhoon brought driving rain and strong winds to Mindanao, toppling trees and power lines, causing localised flooding and forcing more than 56,000 to seek refuge in emergency shelters, the civil defence office said.

Winds blew roofs off buildings and residents of coastal and low-lying communities moved into shelters as floods hit, residents and AFP reporters said.

Television footage showed logs being swept down a river, utility workers cutting up fallen trees that were blocking highways, and people lying on mats and cardboard sheets on the concrete floors of gyms turned into shelters.

People living in the path of the storm did what they could to protect their homes and possessions.

"We have taken our pigs and chickens inside our house because their shed might be destroyed," said shopkeeper Marianita Villamor, 46, from the southern farming town of San Fermin.

In Cagayan de Oro city, where giant waves crashed down on the shoreline, mayor Vicente Emano told ABS-CBN that police rounded up all residents in low-lying areas and moved them to government shelters.

In Tagum city, hotel waiter Edgie Atilano, 23, said he and his family hunkered down in their home as Bopha bore down.

"At 3:00 am, we were woken by strong rain and howling winds. Trees and branches started snapping off near the house," said the father-of-two.

"This is my first time to experience a strong typhoon. It was a bit scary."

As well as the 44 killed in New Bataan, officials said there were eight other confirmed deaths, all but one of them occurring on Mindanao, with three of the victims crushed by falling trees.

Four fishermen were also reported missing off Mindanao's east coast, said Freddie Bendulo, planning and development officer of Davao Oriental province.

By early evening the weakened typhoon was streaking across the Sulu Sea, having changed course westward in the afternoon after briefly threatening the central tourist islands of Bohol, Cebu and Negros, the state weather service said.

It was heading toward the north tip of the western island of Palawan and the South China Sea beyond.

A total of 146 flights to and from Mindanao and the central islands had been grounded since Monday night and more than 3,000 ferry passengers were stranded as vessels were ordered to stay in port, according to a civil defence update.

Large parts of Mindanao, which is not normally hit by typhoons, were still without electricity on Tuesday night, it added.

Typhoon Bopha comes after tropical storm Washi hit Mindanao in December last year, killing more than 1,200 and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

.


Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SHAKE AND BLOW
Six dead as Typhoon Bopha lashes Philippines
Manila (AFP) Dec 4, 2012
Typhoon Bopha killed at least six people in the Philippines on Tuesday as the strongest storm to hit the country this year forced more than 50,000 to seek refuge in emergency shelters, officials said. Bopha made landfall on the island of Mindanao in the south of the country at dawn, bringing driving rain and packing gusts of up to 210 kilometres (130 miles) an hour that toppled trees and bro ... read more


SHAKE AND BLOW
WSU researchers use 3-D printer to make parts from moon rock

China's Chang'e-3 to land on moon next year

Moon crater yields impact clues

Study: Moon basin formed by giant impact

SHAKE AND BLOW
NASA Mars Rover Fully Analyzes First Soil Samples

Curiosity Shakes, Bakes, and Tastes Mars with SAM

China prepares to grow vegetables on Mars: state media

Opportunity Gets to Work on Interesting Rock Targets

SHAKE AND BLOW
SciTechTalk: Media fixes for space junkies

NASA Voyager 1 Encounters New Region in Deep Space

Voyager discovers 'magnetic highway' at edge of solar system

Why Study Plants in Space?

SHAKE AND BLOW
Mr Xi in Space

China plans manned space launch in 2013: state media

China to launch manned spacecraft

Tiangong 1 Parked And Waiting As Shenzhou 10 Mission Prep Continues

SHAKE AND BLOW
Space Station to reposition for science

Spacewalks on agenda for new space crew

NASA, Roscosmos Assign Veteran Crew to Yearlong Space Station Mission

Three ISS crew return to Earth in Russian capsule

SHAKE AND BLOW
S. Korea readies new bid to join global space club

Arianespace Lofts Pleiades 1B Using Soyuz Medium-lift launcher

Japan Schedules Radar Satellite Launch

Arianespace ready for next Soyuz and Ariane missions

SHAKE AND BLOW
Do missing Jupiters mean massive comet belts?

Brown Dwarfs May Grow Rocky Planets

Astronomers report startling find on planet formation

A Sky Full of Planets

SHAKE AND BLOW
Android extends global smartphone lead: survey

Experiment yields possible 'spooky' matter

ORNL develops lignin-based thermoplastic conversion process

Sender of first text message 'amazed' 20 years on




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement