from deadly floods that claimed 277 lives.
Typhoon Parma was gaining strength as it churned towards the Southeast Asian nation and was expected to dump more heavy rain on areas still reeling from the weekend floods that forced nearly 700,000 people into evacuation camps.
"We are dealing with a very strong typhoon, so we should be at the highest level of preparedness," weather bureau spokesman Nathaniel Santiago said, amid forecasts the typhoon would make landfall on Saturday. (Image: Philippines on full typhoon alert).
"There is a possibility that this will become a super typhoon."
The government defines a super typhoon as one with winds reaching 175-200 kilometres per hour (110-125 miles per hour) with the potential to cause heavy damage.
While Parma is likely to bring less than half the rains of Saturday's tropical storm Ketsana, it was expected to compound flooding in Manila, parts of which remain submerged due to blocked drainage systems.
Ketsana dumped the heaviest rains in four decades on Manila and in surrounding areas on Luzon island, triggering floods that swamped the national capital with up to six metres (20 feet) of water.
Ketsana has left 277 dead so far in the Philippines, according to the government, and killed about 100 more after pounding Vietnam and Cambodia.
The number of people known to have been affected by Ketsana in the Philippines rose to 2.5 million on Thursday, the government said in its latest update, up nearly 300,000 from Wednesday's estimate. Scene: flooded hospital
The number of flood survivors staying in gymnasiums, schools and other makeshift evacuation camps also continued to balloon, with about 687,000 people staying in them, the government said.
Those in the cramped, under-resourced evacuation centres were told to prepare for the new storm, with fresh rains certain to aggravate already squalid conditions.
As Typhoon Parma approached, worried Manila residents who had returned to their homes after the floodwaters receded, and those whose houses were unaffected, were stocking up on food and emergency lights.
Waitress Angel Francisco, 16, rushed back to check on her mother at their still-flooded home in suburban Pasig city.
"There's a new typhoon according to the news and I am worried for my mother, she told AFP, as she hitched a ride with a delivery truck to try and evacuate her mother.
Coast guard chief Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said he had put his men on alert ahead of the typhoon.
Already packing gusts of up to 185 kilometers per hour (115 miles per hour), Parma was last monitored at 650 kilometers (400 miles) east of Borongan town on the eastern island of Samar at dawn.
Parma was moving on a west-northwest trajectory toward the northern part of Luzon island and would likely hit land Saturday.
If the storm maintained its current trajectory, it would spare Manila although it may still change course and strike areas north of the capital, the weather bureau said.
The lowest of a four-step storm signal was raised over the provinces of Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte and Catanduanes on Luzon's eastern coast, weather officials said, warning fishermen against venturing out to sea.
Showing posts with label Typhoon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Typhoon. Show all posts
Saturday, October 03, 2009
DTN News: Philippines TODAY October 3, 2009 ~ Philippines On Full Typhoon Alert
DTN News: Philippines TODAY October 3, 2009 ~ Philippines On Full Typhoon Alert
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) MANILA, The Philippines - October 3, 2009: The Philippines went on high alert Thursday as a 'super typhoon' threatened to unleash more devastation for millions of people already struggling to recover 
from deadly floods that claimed 277 lives.
Typhoon Parma was gaining strength as it churned towards the Southeast Asian nation and was expected to dump more heavy rain on areas still reeling from the weekend floods that forced nearly 700,000 people into evacuation camps.
"We are dealing with a very strong typhoon, so we should be at the highest level of preparedness," weather bureau spokesman Nathaniel Santiago said, amid forecasts the typhoon would make landfall on Saturday. (Image: Philippines on full typhoon alert).
"There is a possibility that this will become a super typhoon."
The government defines a super typhoon as one with winds reaching 175-200 kilometres per hour (110-125 miles per hour) with the potential to cause heavy damage.
While Parma is likely to bring less than half the rains of Saturday's tropical storm Ketsana, it was expected to compound flooding in Manila, parts of which remain submerged due to blocked drainage systems.
Ketsana dumped the heaviest rains in four decades on Manila and in surrounding areas on Luzon island, triggering floods that swamped the national capital with up to six metres (20 feet) of water.
Ketsana has left 277 dead so far in the Philippines, according to the government, and killed about 100 more after pounding Vietnam and Cambodia.
The number of people known to have been affected by Ketsana in the Philippines rose to 2.5 million on Thursday, the government said in its latest update, up nearly 300,000 from Wednesday's estimate. Scene: flooded hospital
The number of flood survivors staying in gymnasiums, schools and other makeshift evacuation camps also continued to balloon, with about 687,000 people staying in them, the government said.
Those in the cramped, under-resourced evacuation centres were told to prepare for the new storm, with fresh rains certain to aggravate already squalid conditions.
As Typhoon Parma approached, worried Manila residents who had returned to their homes after the floodwaters receded, and those whose houses were unaffected, were stocking up on food and emergency lights.
Waitress Angel Francisco, 16, rushed back to check on her mother at their still-flooded home in suburban Pasig city.
"There's a new typhoon according to the news and I am worried for my mother, she told AFP, as she hitched a ride with a delivery truck to try and evacuate her mother.
Coast guard chief Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said he had put his men on alert ahead of the typhoon.
Already packing gusts of up to 185 kilometers per hour (115 miles per hour), Parma was last monitored at 650 kilometers (400 miles) east of Borongan town on the eastern island of Samar at dawn.
Parma was moving on a west-northwest trajectory toward the northern part of Luzon island and would likely hit land Saturday.
If the storm maintained its current trajectory, it would spare Manila although it may still change course and strike areas north of the capital, the weather bureau said.
The lowest of a four-step storm signal was raised over the provinces of Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte and Catanduanes on Luzon's eastern coast, weather officials said, warning fishermen against venturing out to sea.
from deadly floods that claimed 277 lives.
Typhoon Parma was gaining strength as it churned towards the Southeast Asian nation and was expected to dump more heavy rain on areas still reeling from the weekend floods that forced nearly 700,000 people into evacuation camps.
"We are dealing with a very strong typhoon, so we should be at the highest level of preparedness," weather bureau spokesman Nathaniel Santiago said, amid forecasts the typhoon would make landfall on Saturday. (Image: Philippines on full typhoon alert).
"There is a possibility that this will become a super typhoon."
The government defines a super typhoon as one with winds reaching 175-200 kilometres per hour (110-125 miles per hour) with the potential to cause heavy damage.
While Parma is likely to bring less than half the rains of Saturday's tropical storm Ketsana, it was expected to compound flooding in Manila, parts of which remain submerged due to blocked drainage systems.
Ketsana dumped the heaviest rains in four decades on Manila and in surrounding areas on Luzon island, triggering floods that swamped the national capital with up to six metres (20 feet) of water.
Ketsana has left 277 dead so far in the Philippines, according to the government, and killed about 100 more after pounding Vietnam and Cambodia.
The number of people known to have been affected by Ketsana in the Philippines rose to 2.5 million on Thursday, the government said in its latest update, up nearly 300,000 from Wednesday's estimate. Scene: flooded hospital
The number of flood survivors staying in gymnasiums, schools and other makeshift evacuation camps also continued to balloon, with about 687,000 people staying in them, the government said.
Those in the cramped, under-resourced evacuation centres were told to prepare for the new storm, with fresh rains certain to aggravate already squalid conditions.
As Typhoon Parma approached, worried Manila residents who had returned to their homes after the floodwaters receded, and those whose houses were unaffected, were stocking up on food and emergency lights.
Waitress Angel Francisco, 16, rushed back to check on her mother at their still-flooded home in suburban Pasig city.
"There's a new typhoon according to the news and I am worried for my mother, she told AFP, as she hitched a ride with a delivery truck to try and evacuate her mother.
Coast guard chief Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said he had put his men on alert ahead of the typhoon.
Already packing gusts of up to 185 kilometers per hour (115 miles per hour), Parma was last monitored at 650 kilometers (400 miles) east of Borongan town on the eastern island of Samar at dawn.
Parma was moving on a west-northwest trajectory toward the northern part of Luzon island and would likely hit land Saturday.
If the storm maintained its current trajectory, it would spare Manila although it may still change course and strike areas north of the capital, the weather bureau said.
The lowest of a four-step storm signal was raised over the provinces of Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte and Catanduanes on Luzon's eastern coast, weather officials said, warning fishermen against venturing out to sea.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
DTN News: Hong Kong TODAY September 15, 2009 ~ Typhoon Hurts More Than 50 In Hong Kong
DTN News: Hong Kong TODAY September 15, 2009 ~ Typhoon Hurts More Than 50 In Hong Kong
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) HONG KONG - September 15, 2009: More than 50 people were injured in Typhoon Koppu, a storm that roared past Hong Kong Tuesday, emergency workers said.Most of the people taken to hospital were hit by flying objects as the typhoon, packing 
winds of more than 120 km per hour, whipped the city of seven million people. No one was seriously hurt. (Image: Typhoon Koppu, very strong winds, people rushing back to their shelters)
winds of more than 120 km per hour, whipped the city of seven million people. No one was seriously hurt. (Image: Typhoon Koppu, very strong winds, people rushing back to their shelters)Schools and offices were closed and ferry services suspended as high winds and heavy rain continued to pummel the city Tuesday morning as the typhoon made landfall in neighbouring southern China.
Storm warnings were lifted late in the morning as the typhoon moved away from the city and Hong Kong's stock market along with most businesses and afternoon schools opened after lunch.
Across the territory, trees and scaffolding were toppled by the storm, which began affecting the city late Monday, and there were reports of localised flooding.
The typhoon came within 140 km of the city around 4 a.m. (2000 GMT Monday) but did not score a direct hit.
Koppu killed three people and injured three when it hit the Philippines as a tropical depression Saturday before being upgraded to a tropical storm and then a typhoon.
Friday, August 14, 2009
DTN News: Taiwan TODAY August 14, 2009 ~ Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou Says Typhoon Has Killed About 500
DTN News: Taiwan TODAY August 14, 2009 ~ Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou Says Typhoon Has Killed About 500
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) TAIPEI, Taiwan - August 14, 2009: Floods and mudslides unleashed by Typhoon Morakot last weekend have killed about 500 people on the island, Taiwan's president said Friday as he called on rescue crews to step up their efforts. 
In this image released by the Taiwan Military News Agency, soldiers support an elderly woman after being rescued from the flooded village of Meilan following Typhoon Morakot, Friday, Aug. 14, 2009, in Kaohsiung County, southern Taiwan.
Morakot destroyed the homes of 7,000 people and caused agricultural and property damage in excess of 50 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1.5 billion), President Ma Ying-jeou said at a national security conference, the first called since he took office 15 months ago.
He called it the most severe damage to the island in more than 50 years.
"While the rescue operation is still going on, we have started rehabilitation and reconstruction work, which is just as pressing as relief efforts but might be even more difficult and cumbersome," Ma said.
Morakot dumped more than 80 inches (2 meters) of rain on the island last weekend and stranded thousands in villages in the mountainous south. A total of 15,400 villagers have been ferried to safety, and rescuers are working to save another 1,900 people still stuck.
Ma said the death toll includes 120 confirmed deaths, and about 380 people believed to be buried in the debris of a landslide in Shiao Lin, the hardest-hit village.
The military finally opened a road to Shiao Lin on Friday, but authorities have given up hope of finding anyone alive under the tons of mud that now cover the village, Kaohsiung county chief Yang Chiu-hsing said. Instead of digging into some 170 mud-buried homes, a memorial park will be built on the site, he told reporters.
Another six victims were from the village of Sinfa where a torrent of water cascaded down a steep mountain facade, turning homes on the village's eastern fringe into piles of rubble and debris.
"They were there one day, and now they are gone," said neighbor Ban Bi-hsia.
Elsewhere in the village, streets were covered in mud and roads had buckled and collapsed amid days of torrential rains.
Residents have set about the huge task of rebuilding with the help of the army, a company of which was camped out at the local primary school.
As public complaints about the slow rescue work increase, the government said its operations have been hampered because many areas of the country were cut off when roads and bridges had collapsed.
Rescuers have relied on helicopters to reach the worst-hit areas, and on Thursday authorities requested larger choppers from foreign governments capable of carrying earth-moving equipment and shelters.
Many villagers have conducted their own rescue operations. More than 20,000 troops have joined civilian workers on rescue, cleanup and rehabilitation work, officials said.
In this image released by the Taiwan Military News Agency, soldiers support an elderly woman after being rescued from the flooded village of Meilan following Typhoon Morakot, Friday, Aug. 14, 2009, in Kaohsiung County, southern Taiwan.
Morakot destroyed the homes of 7,000 people and caused agricultural and property damage in excess of 50 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1.5 billion), President Ma Ying-jeou said at a national security conference, the first called since he took office 15 months ago.
He called it the most severe damage to the island in more than 50 years.
"While the rescue operation is still going on, we have started rehabilitation and reconstruction work, which is just as pressing as relief efforts but might be even more difficult and cumbersome," Ma said.
Morakot dumped more than 80 inches (2 meters) of rain on the island last weekend and stranded thousands in villages in the mountainous south. A total of 15,400 villagers have been ferried to safety, and rescuers are working to save another 1,900 people still stuck.
Ma said the death toll includes 120 confirmed deaths, and about 380 people believed to be buried in the debris of a landslide in Shiao Lin, the hardest-hit village.
The military finally opened a road to Shiao Lin on Friday, but authorities have given up hope of finding anyone alive under the tons of mud that now cover the village, Kaohsiung county chief Yang Chiu-hsing said. Instead of digging into some 170 mud-buried homes, a memorial park will be built on the site, he told reporters.
Another six victims were from the village of Sinfa where a torrent of water cascaded down a steep mountain facade, turning homes on the village's eastern fringe into piles of rubble and debris.
"They were there one day, and now they are gone," said neighbor Ban Bi-hsia.
Elsewhere in the village, streets were covered in mud and roads had buckled and collapsed amid days of torrential rains.
Residents have set about the huge task of rebuilding with the help of the army, a company of which was camped out at the local primary school.
As public complaints about the slow rescue work increase, the government said its operations have been hampered because many areas of the country were cut off when roads and bridges had collapsed.
Rescuers have relied on helicopters to reach the worst-hit areas, and on Thursday authorities requested larger choppers from foreign governments capable of carrying earth-moving equipment and shelters.
Many villagers have conducted their own rescue operations. More than 20,000 troops have joined civilian workers on rescue, cleanup and rehabilitation work, officials said.DTN News: Taiwan Comes Under Fire For Typhoon Management
DTN News: Taiwan Comes Under Fire For Typhoon Management
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) TAIPEI, Taiwan - August 14, 2009: As Taiwan grapples with rescue efforts amid the displacement of more than 2,000 people as a result of Typhoon Morakot, 
complaints are fuming over the way the disaster is being addressed.
Following a deadly typhoon last weekend, which dumped three meters (120 inches) of rain and killed more than one hundred people, rescuers managed to airlift nearly 14,000 people to safety. The government and politicians, however, are under continued criticism that they are doing too little, too late. "We are helpless. We are forgotten.
We have been waiting for the helicopters without supplies," one villager told AFP. By Thursday morning, the government had counted 108 deaths, 62 people missing and 45 injured, CNN reported.
While rain continues to scourge the island, rescue teams use their helicopters to dole out food and medicine among cut-off villagers in central and southern areas.
President Ma Ying-jeou, who flied to the typhoon-hit areas to inspect the situation, was met with angry people complaining.
"What is the government doing? It's too late, they cannot be saved," they said.
As the presence of thousands of Taiwanese troops in the disaster areas continues, the government has asked the international community for help items like helicopters, gravel trucks, disinfectants and chlorine tablets.
"I leave everything up to God," Shu Yue Hao told CNN after succeeding to flee the rain in her village Jia Mu.
complaints are fuming over the way the disaster is being addressed.
Following a deadly typhoon last weekend, which dumped three meters (120 inches) of rain and killed more than one hundred people, rescuers managed to airlift nearly 14,000 people to safety. The government and politicians, however, are under continued criticism that they are doing too little, too late. "We are helpless. We are forgotten.
We have been waiting for the helicopters without supplies," one villager told AFP. By Thursday morning, the government had counted 108 deaths, 62 people missing and 45 injured, CNN reported.
While rain continues to scourge the island, rescue teams use their helicopters to dole out food and medicine among cut-off villagers in central and southern areas.
President Ma Ying-jeou, who flied to the typhoon-hit areas to inspect the situation, was met with angry people complaining.
"What is the government doing? It's too late, they cannot be saved," they said.
As the presence of thousands of Taiwanese troops in the disaster areas continues, the government has asked the international community for help items like helicopters, gravel trucks, disinfectants and chlorine tablets.
"I leave everything up to God," Shu Yue Hao told CNN after succeeding to flee the rain in her village Jia Mu.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
DTN News: Taiwan TODAY August 12, 2009 ~ Taiwan Military Rescues Some 300 Typhoon Victims
DTN News: Taiwan TODAY August 12, 2009 ~ Taiwan Military Rescues Some 300 Typhoon Victims
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) CISHAN, Taiwan - August 12, 2009: Taiwan's military rescued about 300 people Tuesday after a mudslide touched off by Typhoon Morakot consumed a village, but scores remained missing. A helicopter on a relief operation in the area crashed into a mountain with three crew aboard. 
In this image released by the Taiwan Military News Agency, soldiers man Armored Personnel Carriers (APC's) moving through the flooded village of Xue Jia, Taiwan, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009. Rescue officials have said more than 300 people were ferried from disaster areas on more than 100 emergency flights.
Chen Chung-hsien, an official in charge of the relief effort, said it was unclear if the two pilots and one technician had survived the crash near Wutai in Pingtung county.
The helicopter had been delivering food and rescuing villagers trapped after a mudslide inundated the remote village of Shiao Lin, leaving at least 400 people unaccounted for.
Morakot, which triggered the worst flooding in Taiwan in 50 years, dumped as much as 80 inches (two meters) of rain at the weekend before moving on to China.
Taiwanese authorities put the confirmed death toll from Morakot at 50 and listed 58 people as missing, not including the residents missing in Shiao Lin, whose fate has been unclear since Sunday's mudslide. Access to the area — in the southern reaches of the island's heavily foliated mountainous spine — is restricted to the military.
Rescue operations were being carried out by helicopters, which hovered over the village looking for survivors.
Officials said more than 300 people were brought out Tuesday on up to 120 flights from a large mountainous area in Kaohsiung to an improvised landing zone at Cishan Junior High School. The people saved came from Shiao Lin and surrounding villages, officials said.
Those rescued Tuesday escaped the mudslide by running to higher ground, from where they were plucked by the helicopters. But those saved from other villages — which are miles (kilometers) away from Shiao Lin — had enough time to run to open ground.
One of the women ferried out Tuesday implored the military to do everything to rescue her family and friends. "There are still a lot of people trapped inside," Lin Mei-ying told television station ETTV. "Please go faster, so they can be saved."
Taiwan's National Fire Agency said 100 villagers were buried alive when the mudslide hit, though it did not offer details to back up that assessment. But some of the 30 residents who were among those rescued Monday said the figure was far higher — perhaps as many as 600.
Taiwan's population registry lists Shiao Lin as having 1,300 inhabitants, though many are believed to live elsewhere.
The village's almost total isolation complicated reporting about its fate. Shiao Lin was cut off after floodwaters destroyed a bridge about eight miles (12 kilometers) away. A back road wending its way northward toward the mountain community of Alishan was also believed to be cut off, and with rain still falling in the area, prospects for an early resumption of overland travel were poor.
A woman rescued Monday told Taiwan's China Times newspaper that she fled with her husband and their baby from their two-story Shiao Lin home minutes before the mudslide buried it.
"We heard two loud bangs," the woman surnamed Chi was quoted as saying. "The sky was filled with dust like a volcanic eruption, and flood waters, mud and rocks streamed onto the roads."
Officials said more than 600 people from nearby villages survived by running to open ground and have been waiting since Sunday for rescuers.
Television footage showed the streets of one village covered by thick mud and rubble. A 51-year-old man from Jilai village was swept 1.2 miles (two kilometers) away when the mudslides that struck Shiao Lin rushed down a nearby mountain. According to news reports, he survived by holding on to a log.
After pummeling Taiwan, Morakot slammed into China's Fujian province, bringing heavy rain and winds of 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour, according to the China Meteorological Administration. Authorities evacuated 1.4 million people, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The heavy rains triggered a massive landslide in Pengxi, a town in Wenzhou city of eastern China's Zhejiang province, destroying seven three-story apartment buildings at the foot of a mountain late Monday, an official surnamed Chen from the Pengxi government told The Associated Press.
Xinhua reported that an unknown number of residents were buried in the landslide, though Chen put the number at six. All were pulled out alive but two later died of their injuries, he said.
In this image released by the Taiwan Military News Agency, soldiers man Armored Personnel Carriers (APC's) moving through the flooded village of Xue Jia, Taiwan, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009. Rescue officials have said more than 300 people were ferried from disaster areas on more than 100 emergency flights.
Chen Chung-hsien, an official in charge of the relief effort, said it was unclear if the two pilots and one technician had survived the crash near Wutai in Pingtung county.
The helicopter had been delivering food and rescuing villagers trapped after a mudslide inundated the remote village of Shiao Lin, leaving at least 400 people unaccounted for.
Morakot, which triggered the worst flooding in Taiwan in 50 years, dumped as much as 80 inches (two meters) of rain at the weekend before moving on to China.
Taiwanese authorities put the confirmed death toll from Morakot at 50 and listed 58 people as missing, not including the residents missing in Shiao Lin, whose fate has been unclear since Sunday's mudslide. Access to the area — in the southern reaches of the island's heavily foliated mountainous spine — is restricted to the military.
Rescue operations were being carried out by helicopters, which hovered over the village looking for survivors.
Officials said more than 300 people were brought out Tuesday on up to 120 flights from a large mountainous area in Kaohsiung to an improvised landing zone at Cishan Junior High School. The people saved came from Shiao Lin and surrounding villages, officials said.
Those rescued Tuesday escaped the mudslide by running to higher ground, from where they were plucked by the helicopters. But those saved from other villages — which are miles (kilometers) away from Shiao Lin — had enough time to run to open ground.
One of the women ferried out Tuesday implored the military to do everything to rescue her family and friends. "There are still a lot of people trapped inside," Lin Mei-ying told television station ETTV. "Please go faster, so they can be saved."
Taiwan's National Fire Agency said 100 villagers were buried alive when the mudslide hit, though it did not offer details to back up that assessment. But some of the 30 residents who were among those rescued Monday said the figure was far higher — perhaps as many as 600.
Taiwan's population registry lists Shiao Lin as having 1,300 inhabitants, though many are believed to live elsewhere.
The village's almost total isolation complicated reporting about its fate. Shiao Lin was cut off after floodwaters destroyed a bridge about eight miles (12 kilometers) away. A back road wending its way northward toward the mountain community of Alishan was also believed to be cut off, and with rain still falling in the area, prospects for an early resumption of overland travel were poor.
A woman rescued Monday told Taiwan's China Times newspaper that she fled with her husband and their baby from their two-story Shiao Lin home minutes before the mudslide buried it.
"We heard two loud bangs," the woman surnamed Chi was quoted as saying. "The sky was filled with dust like a volcanic eruption, and flood waters, mud and rocks streamed onto the roads."
Officials said more than 600 people from nearby villages survived by running to open ground and have been waiting since Sunday for rescuers.
Television footage showed the streets of one village covered by thick mud and rubble. A 51-year-old man from Jilai village was swept 1.2 miles (two kilometers) away when the mudslides that struck Shiao Lin rushed down a nearby mountain. According to news reports, he survived by holding on to a log.
After pummeling Taiwan, Morakot slammed into China's Fujian province, bringing heavy rain and winds of 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour, according to the China Meteorological Administration. Authorities evacuated 1.4 million people, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The heavy rains triggered a massive landslide in Pengxi, a town in Wenzhou city of eastern China's Zhejiang province, destroying seven three-story apartment buildings at the foot of a mountain late Monday, an official surnamed Chen from the Pengxi government told The Associated Press.
Xinhua reported that an unknown number of residents were buried in the landslide, though Chen put the number at six. All were pulled out alive but two later died of their injuries, he said.Tuesday, August 11, 2009
DTN News: Philippines TODAY August 11, 2009 ~ Havoc Created By Typhoon
DTN News: Philippines TODAY August 11, 2009 ~ Havoc Created By Typhoon
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) MANILA, Philippines - August 11, 2009: Philippine coast guardsmen assist stranded residents as flooding continues for a second straight day Saturday Aug. 8, 2009, in Botolan, Zambales in northwestern Philippines.
Stranded residents wait to be ferried by the Philippine Coast Guard rescuers to the other end of a highway partially destroyed due to continued flooding in Botolan town in northern Philippines August 8, 2009. Three French tourists and two guides on a trek to Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines drowned on Thursday when their car was swept away by a swollen river. Six other people were killed in flash floods and landslides in the main island of Luzon.
Stranded residents wait to be ferried by the Philippine Coast Guard rescuers to the other end of a highway partially destroyed due to continued flooding in Botolan town in northern Philippines August 8, 2009. Three French tourists and two guides on a trek to Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines drowned on Thursday when their car was swept away by a swollen river. Six other people were killed in flash floods and landslides in the main island of Luzon.An earthen dike in the foothills of Mt. Pinatubo collapsed under heavy monsoon rains early Friday, flooding towns and villages west of Manila and leaving at least 12 dead, including three foreigners, officials said.
DTN News: Police ~ 400 Unaccounted For In Taiwan Mudslide
DTN News: Police ~ 400 Unaccounted For In Taiwan Mudslide
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) TAIPEI, Taiwan - August 11, 2009: A mudslide touched off by a deadly typhoon buried a remote mountain village, leaving at least 400 people unaccounted for Monday, and military rescue helicopters unable to land because of the slippery ground dropped food to desperate survivors. 
Armored Personnel Carriers bring rescue workers through a flooded street of Pingtung county, southern Taiwan, Monday, Aug. 10, 2009. An estimated 400 Taiwanese are unaccounted for after the landslide spawned by Typhoon Morakot struck their isolated mountain village of Shiao Lin, a police official said Monday, and a newspaper quoted a resident as saying as many as 600 were buried.
Typhoon Morakot slammed Taiwan over the weekend with as much as 80 inches (two meters) of rain, inflicting the worst flooding the island has seen in at least a half-century.
The storm submerged large swaths of farmland in chocolate-brown muck and swamped city streets before crossing the 112-mile-wide Taiwan Strait and hitting China, where it forced the evacuation of nearly 1 million people.
A disaster appeared to be unfolding around the isolated southern village of Shiao Lin, which was hit by a mudslide Sunday at about 6 a.m. local time — while many people were still asleep — and was cut off by land from the outside world.
Speaking to The Associated Press, a Taiwanese police official who identified himself only by his surname, Wang, said 400 people were unaccounted for in the village. Wang said 100 people had been rescued or otherwise avoided the brunt of the disaster.
One of the rescued villagers, an unidentified middle-aged man, told police that his family of 10 had been wiped out.
"They're gone," he said, according to a local photographer who overheard the exchange. "All gone."
Another rescued villager, Lin Chien-chung, told the United Evening News that he believes as many as 600 people were buried in the mudslide.
"The mudslide covered a large part of the village including a primary school and many homes," Lin was quoted as saying. "A part of the mountain above us just fell on the village."
Lin said he and several neighbors moved to higher ground several hours before the mudslide hit because torrential rains had flooded their homes.
Taiwan's population register lists Shiao Lin as having 1,300 inhabitants, though many are believed to live elsewhere.
Under leaden gray skies, military helicopters hovered over the community, dropping food and looking for survivors. They were unable to land because of the slippery terrain.
Shiao Lin was cut off after floodwaters destroyed a bridge about 8 miles (12 kilometers) away. A back road wending its way northward toward the mountain community of Alishan was also believed to be cut off, and with rain still falling in the area, the prospects for an early resumption of overland travel were poor.
Elsewhere in Taiwan, an additional 54 people were listed as missing.
Authorities put the confirmed death toll in Taiwan at 14, but that seemed certain to rise.
The typhoon's path took it almost directly over the capital of Taipei, but its most destructive effects were in the heavily agricultural south and along the island's densely foliated mountain spine. Shiao Lin is on Taiwan's southwestern coast.
In rural Pingtung county, the rains turned rich swaths of farmland so sodden that it was difficult to distinguish them from the open sea. In the Pingtung community of Sandimen, troops maneuvered armored personnel carriers through flooded streets, plucking whole families from water-logged buildings and ferrying them to safety. 
ADDS locations of severe flooding in Taiwan; map shows path of Typhoon Morakot.
In Taitung, in the southeastern lowlands, a raging flood toppled a five-story hotel.
Anxious relatives in Taitung county begged President Ma Ying-jeou to help their loved ones.
"You must try to save my father," cried one. "Please, I beg you to save my father."
After pummeling Taiwan, Morakot slammed into China's Fujian province, directly across the strait, with heavy rain and winds of 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour, according the China Meteorological Administration. At least one child died after a house collapsed in Zhejiang province.
Hundreds of villages and towns were flooded and more than 2,000 houses had collapsed, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Four people died in Zhejiang, and two other deaths were reported in Fujian and Jiangxi province, Xinhua said.
Before plowing into Taiwan, the storm hit the Philippines, where it killed 22.
In Japan, meanwhile, Typhoon Etau slammed into the western coast Monday. Twelve people were killed in raging floodwaters and landslides, and 10 others were missing, police said.
Armored Personnel Carriers bring rescue workers through a flooded street of Pingtung county, southern Taiwan, Monday, Aug. 10, 2009. An estimated 400 Taiwanese are unaccounted for after the landslide spawned by Typhoon Morakot struck their isolated mountain village of Shiao Lin, a police official said Monday, and a newspaper quoted a resident as saying as many as 600 were buried.
Typhoon Morakot slammed Taiwan over the weekend with as much as 80 inches (two meters) of rain, inflicting the worst flooding the island has seen in at least a half-century.
The storm submerged large swaths of farmland in chocolate-brown muck and swamped city streets before crossing the 112-mile-wide Taiwan Strait and hitting China, where it forced the evacuation of nearly 1 million people.
A disaster appeared to be unfolding around the isolated southern village of Shiao Lin, which was hit by a mudslide Sunday at about 6 a.m. local time — while many people were still asleep — and was cut off by land from the outside world.
Speaking to The Associated Press, a Taiwanese police official who identified himself only by his surname, Wang, said 400 people were unaccounted for in the village. Wang said 100 people had been rescued or otherwise avoided the brunt of the disaster.
One of the rescued villagers, an unidentified middle-aged man, told police that his family of 10 had been wiped out.
"They're gone," he said, according to a local photographer who overheard the exchange. "All gone."
Another rescued villager, Lin Chien-chung, told the United Evening News that he believes as many as 600 people were buried in the mudslide.
"The mudslide covered a large part of the village including a primary school and many homes," Lin was quoted as saying. "A part of the mountain above us just fell on the village."
Lin said he and several neighbors moved to higher ground several hours before the mudslide hit because torrential rains had flooded their homes.
Taiwan's population register lists Shiao Lin as having 1,300 inhabitants, though many are believed to live elsewhere.
Under leaden gray skies, military helicopters hovered over the community, dropping food and looking for survivors. They were unable to land because of the slippery terrain.
Shiao Lin was cut off after floodwaters destroyed a bridge about 8 miles (12 kilometers) away. A back road wending its way northward toward the mountain community of Alishan was also believed to be cut off, and with rain still falling in the area, the prospects for an early resumption of overland travel were poor.
Elsewhere in Taiwan, an additional 54 people were listed as missing.
Authorities put the confirmed death toll in Taiwan at 14, but that seemed certain to rise.
The typhoon's path took it almost directly over the capital of Taipei, but its most destructive effects were in the heavily agricultural south and along the island's densely foliated mountain spine. Shiao Lin is on Taiwan's southwestern coast.
In rural Pingtung county, the rains turned rich swaths of farmland so sodden that it was difficult to distinguish them from the open sea. In the Pingtung community of Sandimen, troops maneuvered armored personnel carriers through flooded streets, plucking whole families from water-logged buildings and ferrying them to safety. ADDS locations of severe flooding in Taiwan; map shows path of Typhoon Morakot.
In Taitung, in the southeastern lowlands, a raging flood toppled a five-story hotel.
Anxious relatives in Taitung county begged President Ma Ying-jeou to help their loved ones.
"You must try to save my father," cried one. "Please, I beg you to save my father."
After pummeling Taiwan, Morakot slammed into China's Fujian province, directly across the strait, with heavy rain and winds of 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour, according the China Meteorological Administration. At least one child died after a house collapsed in Zhejiang province.
Hundreds of villages and towns were flooded and more than 2,000 houses had collapsed, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Four people died in Zhejiang, and two other deaths were reported in Fujian and Jiangxi province, Xinhua said.
Before plowing into Taiwan, the storm hit the Philippines, where it killed 22.
In Japan, meanwhile, Typhoon Etau slammed into the western coast Monday. Twelve people were killed in raging floodwaters and landslides, and 10 others were missing, police said.
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