Typhoon Babs heads for China

MANILA, OCT 24: Typhoon Babs raced toward southern China on Saturday, leaving behind a trail of destruction on the Philippines' main isla...

MANILA, OCT 24: Typhoon Babs raced toward southern China on Saturday, leaving behind a trail of destruction on the Philippines8217; main island where at least 119 people died and hundreds of thousands were forced to flee their homes.

Philippines President Joseph Estrada declared three provinces and a city in the worst hit area on the southern tip of Luzon island under a state of calamity. He was expected to add more provinces to the list once the full extent of the damage was determined.

Disaster officials said the toll on lives and property would rise as telephone service is restored and roads blocked by landslides and flooding are reopened in the worst hit areas.

By early today Babs had moved out over the South China sea, 280 km west-northwest of Dagupan city in Pangasinan province, weather officials said. It had sustained winds of 120 kph, with gusts up to 150 kph, and was headed toward southern China.

Meteorological officials expect the typhoon to re-intensify over water as it nears Hong Kong by earlytomorrow.

Of the 119 deaths reported so far in the Philippines, 62 were attributed to landslides on Catanduanes island where Babs first landed on Thursday, the office of civil defence said.

Thirty others died in landslides in nearby Camarines Sur province and another 102 people were injured by flying debris in Sorsogon province, both located in the impoverished Bicol region along the Philippines8217; eastern coast. Nine other people were injured elsewhere in Bicol.

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More than 3,20,000 people in the area were forced out of their homes, disaster relief officials said. Tens of thousands of others were stranded as ports were shut and ships forbidden to sail. Many areas in Manila and nearby provinces were still under water early today. In Pampanga province north of the capital, 35 villages in the township of Candaba were submerged, mayor Ben Gatus said.

Babs also pounded areas around Mount Pinatubo volcano with heavy rain, unleashing avalanches of volcanic material from the mountain8217;s slopes. Most of thematerial was carried safely away by swollen rivers.

It was second devastating storm in the Philippines in a week.