Death toll rises to 250 in RP typhoon

Death toll rises to 250 in RP typhoon

LUCENA, Philippines (Agencies): Typhoon Angela, the most
powerful to hit the Philippines in nearly a decade, killed more
than 250 people including at least 121 in a single town, disaster
officials said yesterday.

They said about half a million people may have been made
homeless and millions of dollars worth of crops and property
damaged.

"The problem isn't infrastructure -- that can wait," Defense
Secretary Renato de Villa, in overall charge of relief efforts,
told reporters. "The problem is saving lives."

Local government officials in Quezon province said at least
120 people had been killed by floods in the coastal town of
Calauag, 165 km (100 miles) southeast of Manila.

Relief teams were still trying to reach the town, which is
virtually cut off by floods, Reuter reported.

Disaster officials, hampered by power and communications
failures and the sheer scale of the calamity, said at least 250
people had died throughout the country although this was bound to
rise as a fuller picture emerged.

"Definitely these figures will go up once reports come in from
these (remote) places," army General Clemente Mariano said.

Flooding covered a vast area of the Bicol region at the
southern end of the main Philippine island of Luzon, General
Mariano, military commander of southern Luzon, said after a
helicopter tour.

"It looks like all one body of water, with only the roofs of
houses showing in some places."

Mariano said many of the deaths were caused by torrents
cascading down mountains denuded by illegal logging.

Drowning and landslides were the most common cause of death,
although many people were killed by flying objects flung by
gales. A policeman died in the east coast town of Daet after he
was impaled by a wooden pole that crashed through a wall.

In the north, downpours brought by Angela sent a seven foot
(2.1 metres) high wall of mud crashing down from Pinatubo volcano
into the city of San Fernando.

The commercial center of the city of 300,000 people was
inundated and more than 50,000 people fled.

"It looks like a sea. One family rode a two-wheel horse-drawn
carriage to safety," an eyewitness said.

Damage to bridges, roads and crops like rice and coconuts was
estimated at over two billion pesos ($76.9 million) and expected
to rise, relief officials said. Up to half a million people may
have lost their homes, they said.

The island of Catanduanes, the first to be hit by Angela's
preliminary impact on Thursday evening, was devastated.

"The entire province was heavily devastated," Air Force chief
General Nicasio Rodriguez told reporters after flying on a relief
plane to the island 350 km (220 miles) east of Manila.

All over Luzon, the typhoon blew down trees, and the flimsy
wood and palm thatch houses that are the Philippines' most common
dwelling.

Angela, up to 800 km (500 miles) in diameter and with winds
hitting up to 250 kph (155 mph), battered the southern part of
Luzon on Friday.

Luzon is the most populous and prosperous island in the
archipelago of 68 million people.

The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 cyclones a year but
Angela was the most powerful since typhoon Nina killed more than
1,000 in 1987.

AFP reported that President Fidel Ramos, who toured affected
areas north of Manila, ordered that power, transportation and
communication links be restored as soon as possible and warned
profiteers against jacking up the prices of basic goods and
services.

He has also ordered the release of a total of 34.7 million
pesos in special calamity funds for relief and rescue operations.
Hurricane-force winds of up to 240 kilometers (150 miles) an hour
lashed Bicol overnight Thursday before hitting the capital on
Friday, knocking down power lines and uprooting trees.

The state-owned National Power Corp. (NPC) said power had been
restored to 25 percent of the affected areas and that this would
rise to 66 percent by last night.

But many areas both within and outside Manila remained in the
dark for the second day, yesterday with the NPC admitting they
may not be able to restore power entirely for some time due to
the toppling of lines.

Ramos and other officials made no mention of any fatalities in
regions north of Manila which have been afflicted by mudflows
during every heavy rain downpour.