Typhoon Zeb heads for Japan after hitting RP

Typhoon Zeb heads for Japan after hitting RP

TOKYO (AP): A weakened typhoon Zeb approached islands in southern Japan on Friday after killing at least 74 people in the Philippines and seven in Taiwan in a trail of destruction.

With maximum sustained winds of 108 kph, Zeb was located about 180 kilometers west of the island of Ishigaki in Okinawa prefecture, as of 8:00 p.m. (7 p.m. Jakarta time), Japan's Meteorological Agency said.

The typhoon was moving north-northeast at about 25 kph in the East China Sea, the agency said. Weather reports forecast rain for most of western and central Japan over the weekend.

The storm was expected to approach the coast of Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu by Saturday evening.

A total of 90 domestic flights to southern Japanese destinations were canceled on Friday, national broadcaster NHK said. More air cancellations were expected on Saturday.

Disaster officials in the Philippines said the typhoon left at least 74 people dead, mostly due to drownings and landslides. Ten people were missing. The casualty figure is expected to rise because several mountain villages in the northern Philippines remain isolated.

At least 103,000 people were forced to flee their homes in the Philippines because of flooding. Most have since returned home, but more than 10,000 people remained in 28 government shelters.

At least five provinces have been declared in a state of calamity, to allow emergency funds to be released to these areas.

In Taiwan, seven people were dead and up to 10 missing after Zeb roared across the island on Friday.

Torrential rains loosed mudslides that covered two houses in the Taipei suburb of Neihu. Rescuers said a retired soldier, his wife, three daughters and two other people were believed trapped.

And at central Taichung port, 23 Taiwanese and Indonesian sailors were rescued by breeches buoy when their ship, the Panama-registered Elite Leader, ran aground.