49 dead as Mangkhut rips thru Hong Kong, Philippines

Typhoon Mangkhut rocked Hong Kong en route to mainland China yesterday, injuring scores and sending skyscrapers swaying, after killing at least 49 people in the Philippines and ripping a swathe of destruction through its agricultural heartland, reports AFP from Hong Kong. The world's biggest storm this year left large expanses in the north of the main Philippine main island of Luzon underwater as fierce winds tore trees from the ground and rain unleashed dozens of landslides.

In Hong Kong weather authorities issued their maximum alert for the storm, which battered the city with gusts of more than 230 kilometres per hour (142 mph) and left over 100 injured, according to government figures. As the storm passed south of Hong Kong, trees were snapped in half and roads blocked, while some windows in tower blocks were smashed and skyscrapers swayed, as they are designed to do in intense gales. The Philippines was just beginning to count the cost

of the typhoon, but police confirmed at least 49 were killed when it smashed into northern Luzon on Saturday.

In the town of Baggao it demolished houses, tore off roofs and downed power lines. Some roads were cut off by landslides and many remained submerged.

Farms across northern Luzon, which produces much of the nation’s rice and corn, were sitting under muddy floodwater, their crops ruined just a month before harvest.

“We’re already poor and then this happened to us. We have lost hope,” 40-year-old Mary Anne Baril, whose corn and rice crops were spoilt, told AFP. “We have no other means to survive,” she said tearfully.

Nearly five million people, almost a quarter of whom survive on just a few dollars per day, live in the storm’s path. An average of 20 typhoons and storms lash the Philippines each year, killing hundreds of people.

The latest victims were mostly people who died in landslides, including a family of four. In addition to the 49 killed in the Philippines, a woman was swept out to sea in Taiwan.

The Philippines’ deadliest storm on record is Super Typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,350 people dead or missing across the central part of the country in November 2013.

In Hong Kong, waters surged in Hong Kong’s famous Victoria Harbour and coastal fishing villages, from which hundreds of residents were evacuated to storm shelters. Some roads were waist-deep in water with parts of the city cut off by floods and fallen trees on Sunday afternoon as the rains continued.

In the fishing village of Tai O, where many residents live in stilt houses built over the sea, some desperately tried to bail out their inundated homes.

49 dead as Mangkhut rips thru Hong Kong, Philippines

Typhoon Mangkhut rocked Hong Kong en route to mainland China yesterday, injuring scores and sending skyscrapers swaying, after killing at least 49 people in the Philippines and ripping a swathe of destruction through its agricultural heartland, reports AFP from Hong Kong. The worlds biggest storm this year left large expanses in the north of the main Philippine main island of Luzon underwater as fierce winds tore trees from the ground and rain unleashed dozens of landslides. In Hong Kong weather authorities issued their maximum alert for the storm, which battered the city with gusts of more than 230 kilometres per hour (142 mph) and left over 100 injured, according to government figures. As the storm passed south of Hong Kong, trees were snapped in half and roads blocked, while some windows in tower blocks were smashed and skyscrapers swayed, as they are designed to do in intense gales. The Philippines was just beginning to count the cost of the typhoon, but police confirmed at least 49 were killed when it smashed into northern Luzon on Saturday. In the town of Baggao it demolished houses, tore off roofs and downed power lines. Some roads were cut off by landslides and many remained submerged. Farms across northern Luzon, which produces much of the nations rice and corn, were sitting under muddy floodwater, their crops ruined just a month before harvest. Were already poor and then this happened to us. We have lost hope, 40-year-old Mary Anne Baril, whose corn and rice crops were spoilt, told AFP. We have no other means to survive, she said tearfully. Nearly five million people, almost a quarter of whom survive on just a few dollars per day, live in the storms path. An average of 20 typhoons and storms lash the Philippines each year, killing hundreds of people. The latest victims were mostly people who died in landslides, including a family of four. In addition to the 49 killed in the Philippines, a woman was swept out to sea in Taiwan. The Philippines deadliest storm on record is Super Typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,350 people dead or missing across the central part of the country in November 2013. In Hong Kong, waters surged in Hong Kongs famous Victoria Harbour and coastal fishing villages, from which hundreds of residents were evacuated to storm shelters. Some roads were waist-deep in water with parts of the city cut off by floods and fallen trees on Sunday afternoon as the rains continued. In the fishing village of Tai O, where many residents live in stilt houses built over the sea, some desperately tried to bail out their inundated homes.