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Storm leaves massive trail of destruction as deaths hit 331
Source: Agencies |
October 1, 2009, Thursday
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ONE of the most destructive storms in years extended its deadly path across Southeast Asia, blowing down wooden villages in Cambodia and crushing Vietnamese houses under mudslides after submerging much of Manila, the Philippine capital.
The death toll yesterday climbed to 331 and was still rising.
"We're used to storms that sweep away one or two houses. But I've never seen a storm this strong," said Nam Tum, governor of Cambodia's Kampong Thom province.
The immediate threat eased as Typhoon Ketsana was downgraded to a tropical depression as it crossed yesterday into a fourth nation, Laos. But its powerful winds and pummeling rain left a snaking trail of destruction.
Landslides triggered by the storm slammed into houses in central Vietnam on Tuesday, burying people including five members of the same family, the government said. The country's toll rose to 74 as officials recovered more bodies from the muck and swollen rivers, with 179 injured and a dozen missing, the government said late yesterday.
It said the storm destroyed or damaged nearly 180,000 homes, inundated 150,000 more, and flattened crops across central Vietnam. More than 350,000 people were evacuated from the typhoon's path, posing a logistical headache to shelter and feed them.
"The scale of the devastation is stretching all of us," said Minnie Portales, a World Vision aid agency official in the Philippines. The agency said it was scrambling to assess the needs of victims in four countries, including the possibility that Laos would have damage.
Parts of two Vietnamese provinces remained cut off by floodwaters and downed trees and power lines on roads, officials said.
In neighboring Cambodia, at least 11 people were killed and 29 injured on Tuesday as the storm toppled dozens of rickety houses and swept away residents in the two provinces north of the capital that were hit. About 100 houses were destroyed and 400 others damaged, said Ly Thuch of the country's disaster management committee.
Five members of the same family died when their house collapsed, said Neth Sophana of the Red Cross.
Authorities were searching for more victims and rushing food, medical supplies and plastic sheeting for temporary tents to storm-hit areas.
Light rain fell over some parts of the disaster zone yesterday, but most rivers had peaked and were starting to slowly recede, Vietnam's National Weather Forecast Center said.
The cleanup task was enormous.
In the Philippines, Ketsana on Saturday triggered the worst flooding in 40 years across a swath of the island nation's north.
The death toll yesterday climbed to 331 and was still rising.
"We're used to storms that sweep away one or two houses. But I've never seen a storm this strong," said Nam Tum, governor of Cambodia's Kampong Thom province.
The immediate threat eased as Typhoon Ketsana was downgraded to a tropical depression as it crossed yesterday into a fourth nation, Laos. But its powerful winds and pummeling rain left a snaking trail of destruction.
Landslides triggered by the storm slammed into houses in central Vietnam on Tuesday, burying people including five members of the same family, the government said. The country's toll rose to 74 as officials recovered more bodies from the muck and swollen rivers, with 179 injured and a dozen missing, the government said late yesterday.
It said the storm destroyed or damaged nearly 180,000 homes, inundated 150,000 more, and flattened crops across central Vietnam. More than 350,000 people were evacuated from the typhoon's path, posing a logistical headache to shelter and feed them.
"The scale of the devastation is stretching all of us," said Minnie Portales, a World Vision aid agency official in the Philippines. The agency said it was scrambling to assess the needs of victims in four countries, including the possibility that Laos would have damage.
Parts of two Vietnamese provinces remained cut off by floodwaters and downed trees and power lines on roads, officials said.
In neighboring Cambodia, at least 11 people were killed and 29 injured on Tuesday as the storm toppled dozens of rickety houses and swept away residents in the two provinces north of the capital that were hit. About 100 houses were destroyed and 400 others damaged, said Ly Thuch of the country's disaster management committee.
Five members of the same family died when their house collapsed, said Neth Sophana of the Red Cross.
Authorities were searching for more victims and rushing food, medical supplies and plastic sheeting for temporary tents to storm-hit areas.
Light rain fell over some parts of the disaster zone yesterday, but most rivers had peaked and were starting to slowly recede, Vietnam's National Weather Forecast Center said.
The cleanup task was enormous.
In the Philippines, Ketsana on Saturday triggered the worst flooding in 40 years across a swath of the island nation's north.
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