Typhoon Babs pummels RP

Typhoon Babs pummels RP

MANILA (AFP): Typhoon Babs battered the Philippines on
Thursday, killing seven people, sending 200,000 fleeing from its
deadly path and leaving a trail of damage to worsen the country's
economic gloom.

Babs hit the eastern island of Catanduanes with its full fury
packing gusts of up to 200 kilometers per hour before dawn and
flattening "80 percent" of the island's buildings, House of
Representatives member Leandro Verceles said over DZRH radio
station.

The typhoon left a large footprint, raking across the coconut-
growing regions south and east of Manila and knocking out power
in areas within a 400-kilometer radius from the capital.

It is the second typhoon to hit the country in a week after
Typhoon Zeb slammed into the northern Philippines, leaving at
least 83 dead and devastating large rice-growing areas.