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Typhoon Parma hovers off Philippine coast killing 17

Other News Materials 4 October 2009 18:38 (UTC +04:00)
A powerful typhoon moved out to sea on Sunday after thrashing the remote northeastern Philippines and killing 17 people and may remain there for days, bringing more rain and possible landslides, officials said.
Typhoon Parma hovers off Philippine coast killing 17

A powerful typhoon moved out to sea on Sunday after thrashing the remote northeastern Philippines and killing 17 people and may remain there for days, bringing more rain and possible landslides, officials saidç according to Reuters.

Typhoon Parma, the strongest typhoon to hit the country since 2006, was hovering off the northwestern coast of the main Luzon island, the weather bureau said.

It had weakened, with maximum sustained winds of 120 kph (75 mph) and gusts of up to 150 kph, but would spread rain over the mountains of northern Luzon while it was in the area, the bureau said.

"It's very likely if this will continue the next several days, flooding and landslides will be inevitable," said chief weather forecaster Nathaniel Cruz, adding that the entry of another typhoon, Melor, in seas east of the Philippines was a factor.

"It is interacting with the much stronger and faster Melor which is expected to enter the country's area of responsibility on Monday," he told Reuters. Melor is however not likely to hit the Philippines, he said.

Heavy rain in and around Manila, which is about 350 km (200 miles) southeast of the center of Parma, could worsen the situation in the capital area which was badly hit by floods a week ago after a previous storm, Ketsana. Nearly 300 people were killed and about half a million were forced out of their homes.

Parma's outer layers hammered the southern tip of Taiwan on Sunday and authorities have issued a land and sea warning.

More than 1,500 people, fearful of mudslides triggered by Parma, have left villages in Taiwan as the government -- bruised by perceptions of slow responses to an August 7-9 typhoon that killed about 770 people -- ordered pre-storm evacuations.

Parma hit the northeast Philippine province of Cagayan on Saturday, which bore the brunt of damage.

"The destruction in our infrastructure and agriculture is huge," said Alvaro Antonio, the governor of Cagayan. "Wide areas are still under water, including ricelands about to be harvested."

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