Typhoon leaves 14 dead in Philippines

A tropical storm roared toward Vietnam on Sunday after battering the Philippine capital and surrounding provinces, leaving 14 people dead. Typhoon Mirinae slammed into Manila and nearby northern Philippine provinces over the weekend then weakened into a storm as it blew out Sunday toward the South China Sea, leaving at least 14 people dead, toppling trees and damaging more than 5,500 houses with fierce winds, officials said. Typhoon leaves 14 dead in Philippines Mirinae was the fourth storm to lash the northern Philippines since late September and brought new hardship to areas still dealing with the previous disasters. Some 87,000 people who fled during prior storms were still living in temporary shelters when Mirinae struck. The storm headed out over the South China Sea and was swirling 450 kilometers southwest of Manila early Sunday but could still bring rains and thunderstorms to western Palawan province, forecasters said. It was expected to strike Vietnam's central coast around noon Monday. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung ordered residents to begin evacuating high-risk areas of five coastal provinces. He also ordered Vietnamese fishermen in the South China Sea to seek shelter immediately. Central Vietnam is still recovering from Typhoon Ketsana, which killed more than 160 people when it struck in late September after bringing the Philippine capital its worst flooding in 40 years. In Manila on Sunday, the sun shone brutally and huge throngs of people jammed cemeteries to pay their respects to their dead on All Saints Day in the devoutly Roman Catholic nation. Some cemeteries near the capital remained under floodwaters but people visited anyway — by boat. In Angono township, in Rizal province just east of Manila, villagers carrying flowers and candles paddled canoes into a rural cemetery that resembled a lake. Joel Librilla thrust his hands into the waist-high waters to feel the letters on submerged tombstones in a search for his mother's grave, where he later lit a candle atop a tree branch. "We don't know where to light our candles," Librilla told the Associated Press Television News. "But my mother should know that this is for her." Disaster-response authorities evacuated more than 115,000 people in Manila and nearby provinces in Mirinae's path before the typhoon struck. At its height, its winds were blowing 150 kilometers per hour and gusting up to 185 kph. One river in Laguna province, south of Manila, overflowed, washing away a bridge and flooding most of lakeside Santa Cruz town. Residents clambered onto roofs to escape the waters before they receded later in the day, Mayor Ariel Magcalas said. At least 14 people died, mostly by drowning, in five provinces and four remained missing, disaster response officials said. Ketsana was followed closely in the northern Philippines by Typhoon Parma, which triggered massive landslides in mountain regions. More than 900 people were killed in the two storms, and a third then threatened the northern Philippines before veering toward Japan.

Typhoon leaves 14 dead in Philippines

Mirinae was the fourth storm to lash the northern Philippines since late September and brought new hardship to areas still dealing with the previous disasters. Some 87,000 people who fled during prior storms were still living in temporary shelters when Mirinae struck.

The storm headed out over the South China Sea and was swirling 450 kilometers southwest of Manila early Sunday but could still bring rains and thunderstorms to western Palawan province, forecasters said.

It was expected to strike Vietnam's central coast around noon Monday.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung ordered residents to begin evacuating high-risk areas of five coastal provinces. He also ordered Vietnamese fishermen in the South China Sea to seek shelter immediately.

Central Vietnam is still recovering from Typhoon Ketsana, which killed more than 160 people when it struck in late September after bringing the Philippine capital its worst flooding in 40 years.

In Manila on Sunday, the sun shone brutally and huge throngs of people jammed cemeteries to pay their respects to their dead on All Saints Day in the devoutly Roman Catholic nation. Some cemeteries near the capital remained under floodwaters but people visited anyway — by boat.

In Angono township, in Rizal province just east of Manila, villagers carrying flowers and candles paddled canoes into a rural cemetery that resembled a lake.

Joel Librilla thrust his hands into the waist-high waters to feel the letters on submerged tombstones in a search for his mother's grave, where he later lit a candle atop a tree branch.

"We don't know where to light our candles," Librilla told the Associated Press Television News. "But my mother should know that this is for her."

Disaster-response authorities evacuated more than 115,000 people in Manila and nearby provinces in Mirinae's path before the typhoon struck. At its height, its winds were blowing 150 kilometers per hour and gusting up to 185 kph.

One river in Laguna province, south of Manila, overflowed, washing away a bridge and flooding most of lakeside Santa Cruz town. Residents clambered onto roofs to escape the waters before they receded later in the day, Mayor Ariel Magcalas said.

At least 14 people died, mostly by drowning, in five provinces and four remained missing, disaster response officials said.

Ketsana was followed closely in the northern Philippines by Typhoon Parma, which triggered massive landslides in mountain regions. More than 900 people were killed in the two storms, and a third then threatened the northern Philippines before veering toward Japan.