Typhoon Mangkhut lashes Hong Kong

International Desk:  Typhoon Mangkhut rocked Hong Kong en route to mainland China on Sunday, lashing its coastline and sending skyscrapers swaying, after killing at least 49 people in the Philippines and ripping a swathe of destruction through its agricultural heartland.

The the world's biggest storm this year left large expanses in the north of the Philippines' main island of Luzon underwater as fierce winds tore trees from the ground and rains unleashed dozens of landslides.

The number of people killed jumped to 49 on Sunday, police said, as more landslide victims were discovered. Police spokesman Benigno Durana released updated figures showing the number of dead had risen from the previous reported toll of 30.

In Hong Kong, weather authorities issued their maximum alert for the storm, which rocked the city with violent gusts that have reportedly reached 145 miles per hour.

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 some skyscrapers swayed, as they are designed to do in intense gales.

The Philippines was just beginning to count the cost of the typhoon after it smashed into northern Luzon on Saturday.

In the town of Baggao, the storm 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 a large portion of the nation's rice and corn, were sitting under muddy floodwaters, their crops ruined just a month before harvest.

Source: Agencies


risingbd/Dhaka/September 16, 2018/A K Azad