Super typhoon Megi lashes Philippines amid flood alerts

Agencies

Philippines, 19 October 2010: Super Typhoon Megi became the strongest cyclone in years to buffet the Philippines on Monday, while flooding in Vietnam swept away a bus and left 20 people missing, including a girl pulled from her mother’s grasp by the raging waters.

 

The huge storm striking the northern Philippines drowned at least one man and was expected to add to what already has been heavy rains striking much of the region, including in China where authorities evacuated 140,000 people from a coastal province ahead of the typhoon. It could head later to Vietnam, where 30 deaths from flooding already have been reported in recent days, in addition to the bus passengers snatched by surging currents Monday and feared dead.

 

 

Megi packed sustained winds of 140 miles (225 kilometers) per hour and gusts of 162 mph (260 kph) as it made landfall midday Monday at Palanan Bay in Isabela province, felling trees and utility poles and cutting off power, phone and Internet services in many areas. It appeared to be losing some of its power while crossing the mountains of the Philippines’ main northern island of Luzon.