Typhoon Mangkhut hits south China after dozens killed in Philippines
More than 100 injured in Hong Kong and almost half a million flee cities in GuangdongTyphoon Mangkhut devastates southern coast of China – video
Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Bangkok, Lily Kuoin Beijing and Carmela Fonbuena in Manila-
The storm battered the heavily populated Guangdong region on Sunday afternoon with 100mph (160km/h) winds, after skirting 62 miles from Hong Kong.
In Guangdong, more than 2.4 million people have been evacuated. The storm made landfall in the the city of Haiyan around 5pm local time, according to China’s central meteorological observatory. China Central Television said the had typhoon triggered storm surges as high as 3 meters. By late evening, the Chinese state broadcaster said two lives had already been lost.
Schools have closed until Tuesday, the high-speed rail line has been suspended and hundreds of flights have been cancelled, according to China’s state news agency, Xinhua. In the southern province of Fujian, officials have ordered thousands of fishing boats to return to harbour and closed construction sites near the coast.
Jacky Wong(@jackycwong)
September 16, 2018
In the Philippines, the total death toll rose to 64. The heaviest casualties were in Benguet province, where 38 people died, mostly in two landslides, and 37 are still missing, the police said. Dozens of people, mostly small-scale miners and their families, are still feared to have been trapped by a landslide in the far-flung village of Ucab in Itogon town in the province, according to the local mayor, Victorio Palangdan. Supt Pelita Tacio said 34 villagers had died.
Four others – including two children – were buried in a landslide in Nueva Ecija, another person died in Kalinga, and one was killed by a falling tree in Ilocos Sur, said Francis Tolentino, an adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte. A pregnant woman was also among the fatalities.
The storm, the strongest in the region this year, was not as ferocious as feared due to the remote areas where the typhoon hit. However, the full death toll and extent of the destruction is still unknown
Dozens feared trapped as Typhoon Mangkhut death toll rises in the Philippines – video
On Sunday, Duterte and government officials flew to the heavily impacted area of Cagayan. He said in a televised briefing: “I share the grief of those who lost their loved ones. Those [are what] we call the unforeseen events. In insurance, this is an act of God. I don’t know how it can be an act of God, but that is the term used by the insurance.”
SCMP News
✔@SCMPNewsMa Wan, off the eastern edge of #HongKong's Lantau Island, feels the force of #Mangkhut http://buff.ly/2My3zdc #TyphoonMangkhut: Sian Loh
The island is a key agricultural area in the Philippines, producing most of the country’s rice, corn and other vegetable crops, which have been ruined a month before harvest, damaging the livelihoods of thousands in the region.
In Ilocos Norte where the typhoon made its exit, Juan Carlo Tabios, 22, and his family thought they could stay in their wooden bungalow home and ride out the typhoon.
They were forced to evacuate at the last minute when the howling winds started to shake the house at midnight on Saturday. They ran to a neighbour with a sturdier house, where they they heard the typhoon rip their home apart, piece by piece.
“The walls of our home flapped against the strong winds for hours and stopped only when they broke off,” said Tabio. “In the morning, we saw that our home was totally damaged. The kitchen was completely washed out. My room was split open and my clothes and books were soaked.”
He added: “In some areas where the eye of the storm hit, it seems as if nothing has been left undamaged.”
The typhoon affected 250,000 people in Luzon, according to the government’s natural disaster council. Mangkhut, a Thai word for the mangosteen fruit, is the 15th storm this year to batter the Philippines.
