Typhoon sweeps over Philippines

Typhoon sweeps over Philippines

MANILA (AFP): Typhoon Xangsane, upgraded from a tropical
storm, brushed past the northern Philippines on Tuesday after
killing 26 people and displacing 150,000 others, weathermen and
rescuers said.

The typhoon swept past Laoag in the northern part of the
Philippine's main Luzon island before dawn and was tracked 80
kilometers northwest of the northern city at 10:00 am (9 a.m.
Jakarta time), the weather bureau said.

The typhoon packed winds of 130 kilometers an hour and was
moving north at 11 kilometers an hour toward a coordinate about
280 kilometers west of the sparsely populated Batan islands, near
southern Taiwan.

Civil defense officials said the typhoon dumped heavy rain on
the northeastern coast of Luzon, swelling rivers and forcing dam
keepers to let out water from the Ambuklao, Binga and Magat
reservoirs.