Typhoon Conson reduces to storm on way to Vietnam

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By CHI-CHI ZHANG, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 25 mins ago

BEIJING – A typhoon that left dozens dead in the Philippines and two in China weakened to a tropical storm as it churned toward northern Vietnam on Saturday, smashing boats in its path and lashing the region with rain and wind.

It was expected to make landfall before dark. Authorities said more than 170,000 people were being prepared for evacuation.

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency said several Vietnamese ships had been wrecked off islands in the South China Sea, but there was no immediate word on whether anyone had died. It quoted a maritime affairs official on the southern resort island of Hainan, hit Friday, as saying rescue efforts were under way.

A man answering the telephone in the maritime bureau said he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Typhoon Conson, China's first typhoon of the year, roared in from the Philippines, where the death toll continued rising Saturday to 65, with 87 missing.

Xinhua said a falling billboard killed a motorcycle rider after the storm brushed Hainan, and another toppled and buried a security guard under debris.

By 8 a.m. Saturday, Hainan's meteorological station said Conson was moving northwest over open water again and had downshifted into astrong tropical storm. It was expected to hit northern Vietnam by afternoon or evening and was moving at 12 miles (20 kilometers) an hour.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged authorities in 23 northern and central provinces to ban ships and fishing trawlers from sailing.

"People in coastal villages and places of high risks of flash floods and landslides in 11 mountainous districts have been told to be ready for evacuation at any time," said Nguyen Trong Hai, a disaster official in Thanh Hoa province.

He said authorities were planning to move 137,000 people from high-risk areas in the northern province.

The national floods and storms control department said another 10,000 were being evacuated in three other northern provinces. An official in the port city of Hai Phong said 19,000 people from coastal districts were being moved, as well as 1,200 people on the island of Cat Hai.

In the Philippines, President Benigno Aquino III scolded the weather bureau for failing to predict that Conson would hit Manila, which left government agencies unprepared for the onslaught.

As the storm moved northwest, the southern areas of China's manufacturing-heavy Guangdong province and the neighboring Guangxi region were expected to see torrential rains. But Conson was not expected to hit areas in China already battered by weeks of flooding.

Flooding and landslides in communities along the Yangtze River and other scattered parts of China have killed more than 130 people so far this month, and Xinhua reported that flooding and landslides killed at least 11 people Friday in the central province of Hubei.

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Associated Press writers Jim Gomez in Manila and Tran Van Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam, and researcher Henry Hou in Beijing contributed to this report.

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Thousands evacuated as typhoon hits southern China

Reuters – Residents stand on a partially destroyed wharf near a capsized ship after Typhoon Conson hit Mariveles, …

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By CHI-CHI ZHANG, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 41 mins ago

BEIJING – A typhoon that left a trail of destruction and deaths in the Philippines hit southern China late Friday as emergency workers prepared for torrential rains and lashing winds, flights and ferries were canceled and tens of thousands of residents were evacuated.

Typhoon Conson had weakened to a tropical storm after blowing out of the Philippines, where 39 people were dead and the number of missing climbed to 84. But it restrengthened to a typhoon with winds of up to 78 miles per hour (126 kilometers per hour) and hit the city of Sanya on Hainan island at 7:50 p.m. local time Friday, China's National Meteorological Center said.

The center's website provided no other details. Xinhua News Agency reported one death from the storm later Friday: a motorcyclist who was struck by a falling billboard.

Heavy rain fell on Hainan as the typhoon approached and conditions were dark and windy, said a receptionist who answered the phone at the Mandarin Oriental in the city of Sanya.

"If the wind starts to pick up, it may uproot some of the smaller trees. We are recommending to guests that they stay indoors," said the woman, who would not give her name.

Authorities dispatched relief workers in preparation for the storm and ordered thousands of boats to dock. More than 150 passengers were stranded at a port after ferry services were suspended, Xinhua said. Twenty-eight flights were also canceled.

"Even though typhoons are common in our region, we are still taking precautionary safety measures," said an official at the provincial meteorological bureau who refused to give her name as is common among Chinese bureaucrats.

In addition to Hainan, parts of Guangdong province and neighboring Guangxi region will see torrential rains over the next 24 hours as Conson moves toward the northwest at 9 to 13 mph (15 to 20 kph).

Nearly 40,000 people in Hainan and more than 20,000 people in Guangdong were evacuated from areas in the projected path of the typhoon, Xinhua said.

The storm should continue its northwest path inland over the weekend, heading toward southwest China and northern Vietnam.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung urged authorities in 23 northern and central provinces on Friday to ban ships and fishing trawlers from sailing. He also ordered local governments to evacuate people from high-risk areas and to advise others to stockpile food and medicine.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, in a nationally televised emergency meeting, scolded the weatherbureau for failing to predict that Conson would hit Manila, which left government agencies unprepared for the onslaught.

At least 39 people died in the Philippines, including 14 fishermen whose bodies were recovered by the navy, coast guard and policemen in Bataan province, west of Manila, on Thursday. Nine died when a wayward oil barge slammed into their boats, which were moored near Mariveles town, the coast guard said.

Five others were found at sea off Bataan, where their boats sank.

The number of missing soared as emergency crews restored electricity and fixed communication problems between Manila and nearby provinces on Luzon island, the national disaster agency said.

Many parts of China have been pounded by storms this summer, though areas expected to be hit by Conson had not been seriously affected so far. Flooding and subsequent landslides in communities along the Yangtze River and other scattered parts of China have killed 135 people so far this month, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said. Direct economic losses in July reached 26 billion yuan ($3.8 billion).

Conson was not expected to hit the areas in China already battered by weeks of flooding.

In Japan, police said landslides caused by heavy rains killed two people in Hiroshima while another was swept away in a swollen river. Eight people were missing across western and central Japan.

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Associated Press writers Jim Gomez in Manila, Jay Alabaster in Tokyo and Tran Van Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam, contributed to this report.

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9 killed, 10 missing as typhoon lashes Philippines

AP – Residents wade through a flooded street at Las Pinas, south of Manila on Wednesday July 14, 2010 hours …

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By OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 29 mins ago

MANILA, Philippines – The first typhoon to lash the Philippines this year killed at least nine people and left 11 others missing Wednesday after flooding streets in the capital and toppling power lines.

Typhoon Conson slammed into northeast Quezon province with winds of 75 miles (120 kilometers) per hour late Tuesday and weakened into a tropical storm as it crossed rice-growing Luzon Island and buffeted the sprawling capital with strong gusts and heavy rain for about two hours, said weather forecaster Bernie de Leon.

The storm blew out of Manila before dawn Wednesday, leaving downed branches, trees and scattered trash. Winds ripped tarpaulin billboards along the main roads and blew away roofs of coastal shanties.

Workers rushed to fix damaged power lines that left more than half of the main northern island without electricity. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines said it would take two to three days to normalize the situation, with Manila getting only half its needs and hotels and malls running their own generators.

Conson moved into the South China Sea and was projected to make another landfall on the Chinese mainland west of Macau later this week.

Among the fatalities were a woman and her daughter who were hit by a falling tree in Cavite province's Trece Martires city south of Manila, regional disaster operations officer Fred Bragas said.

Provincial spokesman Filomeno Maligaya told DZBB radio that another child drowned after falling into a raging river.

A 12-year-old girl and her 4-year-old brother also were killed when a large mango tree crashed into their home as they were sleeping in nearby Batangas province, Bragas said. A 47-year-old woman was electrocuted by a power line that snapped at the height of the typhoon, he said.

In coastal Camarines Norte province, southeast of Manila, at least three people were killed, said military spokesman Maj. Harold Cabunoc. He gave no details.

He said that local authorities and civilian volunteers on Wednesday rescued nine of 19 fishermen who had disappeared when big waves churned out by the typhoon overturned their boats off the island province of Catanduanes.

The national disaster council reported that some communities in Manila were flooded by knee-deep waters. Up to 3,100 people were stranded in ports waiting for the weather to clear.

Despite preparations by disaster relief agencies to avoid the repetition of last year's calamity when nearly 1,000 people were killed in typhoon-triggered floods in and around Manila, the newly elected President Benigno Aquino III scolded the weather bureau for failing to predict that the storm would hit the capital.

"I hope this is the last time we are all brought to areas different from where we should be," Aquino told officials during a meeting of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, noting that government agencies were relying on the weather bureau for their preparations.

Weather bureau chief Prisco Nilo explained that it takes forecasters six hours to update weather bulletins in making predictions. The weather bureau has complained of lack of funding and equipment.s MNH3893 int mnl asia glbh

The Manila International Airport Authority said 63 flights, including four international, have been canceled and nine were diverted to the central Philippine international airport since late Tuesday.

Classes were suspended in grade and high schools and most universities in Manila. Several government offices, including the Senate, also suspended work due to the power outage. Thousands of commuters were stranded when the blackouts disrupted train services.

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Associated Press writers Jim Gomez, Teresa Cerojano and Hrvoje Hranjski contributed to this report.

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