Typhoon Durian kills hundreds in Philippines

December 2nd, 2006

Manilla, Philippines - A massive typhoon hit the Philippines Friday and roared across the island nation. At least 388 people were killed, Red Cross officials said.

Flooding and blocked roads challenged rescue efforts after the storm hit Thursday with winds gusts up to 165 mph. At least 75 people were missing.

"Rescue teams have been sent out by boat, but many areas are inaccessible," said Gwendolyn Pang, executive assistant to the Red Cross director in Manila.

Many northeast provinces have lost power, making communication practically impossible and some of the areas are in "neck-deep" water.

Fernando Gonzalez, governor of the hardest-hit Albay province, said the death toll included people who died in mudslides on the slopes of the 8,000-foot Mayon volcano, The Associated Press reported.

"The disaster covered almost every corner of this province -- rampaging floods, falling trees, damaged houses," Gonzalez said.

"It happened very rapidly and many people did not expect this because they haven't experienced mud flows in those areas before," Gonzalez said.

"By the time they wanted to move, the rampaging mud flows were upon them."

Noel Rosal, mayor of Legazpi city, Albay province's capital, said: "It's terrible. We now call this place a black desert."

Rosal told the AP that three of the five communities comprising one village of 1,400 people had been "wiped out" with only several roofs visible above the muck and debris.

Survivors said steaming boulders as big as cars washed down from the Mayon volcano, Rosal told AP.

Rosal told AP his own house was engulfed in a flash flood. "I was almost a goner. I had to swim," AP quoted him as saying.

"When the water suddenly rose, we ran for our lives," said Lydia Buevos, 58, told AP.

According to the Red Cross, rescue boats are ushering people to shelters and are also being used to survey the damage.

"Our rescue teams are overstretched rescuing people on rooftops," Glen Rabonza, head of the national Office of Civil Defense, told AP.

Durian weakened Friday with sustained winds of 94 mph and gusts of up to 116 mph, AP reported. It was headed north from the Philippines.

Durian is the fourth devastating typhoon to strike the Philippines in the past four months.

A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that occurs in the western Pacific or Indian oceans.