PHILIPPINES: A typhoon hit the Philippines' eastern coast last night, threatening to worsen floods and landslides that have left more than 1,000 people dead or missing.
Residents of three coastal towns that suffered most of the casualties from heavy rains this week fled to higher ground to escape Typhoon Nanmadol's rains and 185 k.p.h. (115 m.p.h.) winds.
"Based on reports from our troops in the field, they have listed 479 dead and 560 missing in three towns in Quezon province," said a military spokesman.
With helicopters grounded and roads cut, disaster officials said they could do little to protect thousands of people who had lost their homes and were running out of food and water.
The typhoon made landfall at Aurora province north of Manila, where several people died and thousands were displaced by a storm just over a week ago.
Airlines cancelled some flights and ferries halted services. Officials said Manila financial markets would not open today, and the government ordered schools and public offices to close.
Illegal logging was blamed for exacerbating the disaster. Officials said 37,400 families, or 168,000 people, had been affected across the main northern island of Luzon.
Japan said it would provide 15 million pesos worth of aid in the form of tents, generators, water tanks and other items. The US announced it would give $100,000 to the Philippine Red Cross. A military spokesman said air force pilots had seen dozens of bodies floating in swollen rivers or buried in waist-deep mud.