Typhoon Kills 8 in Philippines, Stalks Taiwan

Posted August 28th, 2011 at 11:50 am (UTC-5)
Leave a comment

Taiwan is bracing for a deadly typhoon headed north from the Philippines, where it lashed the main island of Luzon with days of torrential rains and high winds, killing at least eight people.

Forecasters charted the slow-moving Typhoon Nanmadol about 200 kilometers south of Taipei early Monday, with evacuations of coastal areas under way. The storm is expected to strike near Taiwan's port city of Khaosiung later in the day before raking the island's eastern coast.

Nanmadol made landfall in the northern Philippines Saturday morning, with maximum winds exceeding 150 kilometers an hour. Philippine emergency officials say they expect the death toll to rise as reports come in from remote areas of northern Luzon. Local media report blocked roads and a number of mountain towns cut off by flooding.

Authorities say most of the known victims, including several children, died in mudslides. At least six others reported missing Sunday are thought to have been swept out to sea.

More than 100,000 people across 11 Philippine provinces have been affected, and many were without electricity.

Authorities say about 20 tropical cyclones enter Philippine territory in a typical year and, of those, 6 to 9 normally make landfall. The country's deadliest storm on record struck eastern islands of the archipelago in November 1991, killing an estimated 7,000 people.