Agence France Presse -- English November 7, 2001 Wednesday 66 dead, 110 missing as tropical storm Lingling hits Philippines SECTION: International News LENGTH: 587 words DATELINE: CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines, Nov 7 Tropical storm Lingling killed at least 66 people and left another 110 missing as it cut a swathe of destruction across the central and southern Philippines Wednesday. The heaviest hit area was the southern island of Camiguin, where at least 54 people died after tornadoes battered its five coastal towns and flash floods washed away an entire village. And local officials said Cebu, a metropolis of 800,000 people and the country's second largest city, was in a "state of calamity". Lingling, packing winds of 75 kilometers (47 miles) an hour, crept in from the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday morning, dumping heavy rain on central islands and sections of the major southern island of Mindanao, including Cagayan de Oro city. "So far based on the official report given to us by our men in the area, 54 people were killed and 110 were missing in Camiguin," military southern command spokesman Colonel Danilo Servando said over radio station DZRH. Eight people drowned in Cagayan de Oro while two children were lost to rampaging waters in Cebu. Up to 20 typhoons and storms visit this southeast Asian archipelago every year, but few hit Camiguin and Mindanao and fewer arrive later than October, weathermen said. "What happened in Camiguin was surprising, especially that the tropical storm came in November," said a civil defense official who asked not to be named. The official said Lingling's devastation was "maybe only comparable" with flash floods that swamped the central city of Ormoc 10 years ago, killing several thousand people. Servando said government efforts to respond to the emergency had been "limited" as helicopters meant to carry supplies and rescue workers were grounded by bad weather. The Office of Civil Defense said all electricity and about 50 percent of communication lines on Camiguin were cut off. Roads and at least 50 houses in the islands capital of Mambajao were washed away by floods while a vital bridge in another town was rendered impassable by high waters. "This is the first time this has happened in Camiguin... that there are flash floods across the island," provincial governor Pedro Romualdo said. "Municipal halls have been turned into evacuation centers. It is still raining heavily." In Negros Occidental province, a fisherman drowned while trying to retrieve a fishing boat in a swollen river in the village of Tiglawigna, while a woman was swept away by floods in another village and later found dead. Authorities were also trying to verify reports that a fishing boat with seven men capsized off this central city. Meanwhile, much of Cebu city, on the central island of the same name, was also under water after more than 12 hours of continuous rain. Provincial governor Pablo Garcia declared the island of 1.5 million people in a "state of calamity". Cars were submerged in neck-deep waters on one major Cebu highway, while landslides cut off another highway. At least one commercial flight from Manila aborted a Cebu landing and returned to Manila due to poor visibility, local aviation officials said. Hundreds of passengers were stranded as most inter-island ferry services in Cebu, the Bicol region and Samar island in the east were suspended. Lingling was forecast to hit Roxas city on Panay island overnight Wednesday and Mindoro island on Thursday, weathermen said. "This disturbance is expected to affect the entire Visayas area," chief state weather forecaster Prisco Nilo said, referring to the central Philippines. ---- Deutsche Presse-Agentur At least 10 killed in Philippine tropical storm November 7, 2001, Wednesday 05:46 Central European Time DATELINE: Cagayan de Oro City At least 10 people were killed and 20 others missing on Wednesday as a tropical storm battered central and southern Philippine provinces, officials said. Eight people drowned when storm Lingling triggered a waterspout that flooded the towns of Mahinog and Catarman on the resort island of Camiguin, 735 kilometres south of Manila. Two children also drowned in the nearby province of Cebu, disaster relief officials said. Camiguin Congressman Jurdin Romualdo said at least 40 houses were swept away by the floodwaters on the island, where 20 people were reported to be missing. "All the fatalities drowned in the rampaging waters," Romualdo said. "All school classes have been suspended in the island and passenger ferries were prevented from leaving the port." Lingling was packing sustained winds of up to 75 kilometres-an-hour and gusts of up to 90 kilometres-an-hour, the weather bureau said. Disaster relief officials said at least one bridge on Camiguin collapsed, several roads were not passable, while power lines and telephone services were cut off. "We fear that there could be more casualties," said Julius de la Rosa, a provincial disaster relief official. Lingling, which also pounded the eastern Bicol region and the central islands of Panay, Romblon, Leyte and Negros, was expected to move northwest at 15 kilometres an hour. dpa jg gl rk ---- November 7, 2001, Wednesday, BC cycle At least 68 dead in Philippines after flash floods from tropical storm Lingling SECTION: International News LENGTH: 385 words DATELINE: CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines Tropical storm Lingling swamped the Philippines with heavy rains that dislodged volcanic boulders and sent them crashing into villages Wednesday. At least 68 people were killed and dozens more were missing from flash floods and landslides. Hardest hit was Camiguin, an island province known for its beach resorts, where Gov. Pedro Romualdo said 51 bodies had been brought to a gymnasium in the town of Mahinog. Fifty-seven other people were missing, he said. Camiguin, about 440 miles southeast of Manila, normally escapes the worst of the typhoon season that batters the northern Philippines every year. But on Wednesday, a four-hour deluge in the pre-dawn darkness took residents by surprise. "I could not believe this would happen. Entire houses were swept away," Romualdo said by telephone. Casiano Matela, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, said residents reported hearing a thunderous water spout - a tornado over water - before the flash floods. Floodwaters bearing boulders cascaded from Hibok-Hibok, one of seven volcanoes on the island, into mountain villages in Mahinog and riverside communities in Catarman, he said. Romualdo said search-and-rescue teams could not reach some communities because of damaged roads and a destroyed bridge. Matela said weather forced back helicopters trying to reach the island. In addition to the deaths in Mahinog, three people were killed in the provincial capital, Mambajao, seven in Sagay and three in Catarman, Matela said. Flooding hit other parts of the Philippines as the storm moved north. Two girls were killed in Toledo City in the province of Cebu and two in Negros Occidental province, near Cebu. Lingling, with gusts reaching 56 mph, was expected to cross central Panay island, about 250 miles southeast of Manila, late Wednesday as it blew northwest at 8 mph, the weather bureau said. The storm knocked out electricity and flooded many parts of central Leyte and Samar provinces, where schools were closed. There were no immediate reports of casualties in those two provinces. Stormy seas forced the coast guard to stop ferry services to Camiguin. Hundreds of passengers waiting to cross from the southeastern tip of the main island of Luzon to the central Visayas islands were reported stranded at the port. ---- Associated Press International November 7, 2001 Wednesday Flash floods from tropical storm Lingling cause deaths and damage in Philippines SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 467 words DATELINE: CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines Tropical storm Lingling swamped the Philippines with heavy rains Wednesday that dislodged volcanic boulders and sent them crashing into villages. At least 68 people were killed and 57 were missing from flash floods and landslides. Hardest hit was Camiguin, an island province famed for its beach resorts, where Gov. Pedro Romualdo said 51 bodies had been brought to a gymnasium in the eastside town of Mahinog and 57 people were missing. Camiguin, about 710 kilometers (440 miles) southeast of Manila, normally misses out on the worst from the typhoon season that batters the Southeast Asian nation every year because most storms track to the north, but a four hour pre-dawn deluge took residents by surprise as the water rose quickly. "I could not believe this would happen. Entire houses were swept away," Romualdo said by cellular telephone. He said he expected the death toll to rise and that his province will need more coffins. Casiano Matela, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, said residents reported hearing a thunderous water spout - a tornado over water - before the flash floods. Flood waters bearing boulders cascaded from Hibok-Hibok, one of seven volcanoes on the island, into mountain villages in Mahinog and riverside communities in Catarman, he said. Romualdo said search-and-rescue teams could not reach some communities because of damaged roads and a destroyed bridge. Matela said weather forced back helicopters trying to reach the island. Matela reported three people also were killed in the provincial capital of Mambajao, seven in Sagay and three in Catarman. Flooding hit other parts of the Philippines as the storm moved north. Two girls were killed in Toledo City in central Cebu province, and two in Negros Occidental province near Cebu. Lingling, with gusts up to 90 kilometers (56 miles) per hour, was expected to cross central Panay island, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) southeast of Manila, late Wednesday as it blows northwest at 13 kmph (eight mph), the weather bureau said. Satellite photos showed heavy clouds over much of the sprawling archipelago. The storm knocked out electricity and flooded many parts of central Leyte and Samar provinces, where elementary and high schools were closed. There were no immediate reports of casualties in those two provinces. Stormy seas forced the coast guard to stop ferry services to Camiguin. Hundreds of passengers waiting to cross on from the southeastern tip of the main island of Luzon to the central Visayas islands were reported stranded at the port in Matnog town in Sorsogon province. To boost sagging tourism, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Spanish ambassador to the Philippines were in Camiguin two weeks ago for a major annual festival. ot-amb-pax-jg-js ---- XINHUA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE November 8, 2001, Thursday Storm "Lingling" Kills 66 in Philippines SECTION: WORLD NEWS; OTHERS LENGTH: 217 words DATELINE: MANILA, November 8 "Lingling," a major tropical storm, has killed at least 66 people so far, leaving another 110 missing in the central and southern Philippines. The most seriously affected area was the southern island of Camiguin, where the heavy rain and floods have killed at least 54 people, an on-line report of the Philippine Daily Inquirer said Thursday. A large area of Cebu city, capital of central Philippine province of Cebu, has also been submerged after more than 12 hours of steady rain, and two kids were drown, the report said, adding that the whole province under a "state of calamity." The disaster coordinating authority here said all electricity and about 50 percent of communication lines on Camiguin were cut off. Another eight people were also killed in the floods in Cagayan de Oro city on the southern island of Mindanao, the report said. Posting winds with maximum speed of 75 kilometers per hour, " Lingling" moved into the Philippine territory on Tuesday morning, pouring a enormous amount of rain water on the central and southern islands there. Weather forecast here said "Lingling" will continue to rampage in the central Philippines. Experts said as many as 20 typhoons and storms go passing the Philippines annually, but very few of them arrive in November. ---- Associated Press International November 8, 2001 Thursday Workers dig mass graves as death toll rises in Philippines from tropical storm Lingling BYLINE: PAT ROQUE; Associated Press Writer SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 497 words DATELINE: MAHINOG, Philippines Amid rising fear of disease, workers dug mass graves and rescuers pulled bodies from under mud, boulders and collapsed homes Friday on a resort island swamped by tropical storm Lingling. The death toll rose to at least 110, including 80 in the devastated town of Mahinog. Workers, guided by the smell of decomposing bodies, searched the remains of houses for some of the nearly 300 missing. As Mahinog ran out of embalming fluid to preserve the dead, a backhoe tore a hole in the ground at the town cemetery and workers buried 15 people in plain plywood coffins. Twenty coffin makers were working round the clock. The municipal health officer, Dr. Juanita Llacuna, said the dead must be buried immediately to prevent disease because they already were decomposing in the heat and humidity on Camiguin island. Lingling battered the Philippines Thursday, drenching the sprawling archipelago for a second day and sinking a cargo ship. Nineteen Filipino crewmen on the cargo ship went missing in stormy seas off northwestern Philippines, but no survivors have been found and poor weather has hampered rescue efforts. In central Cebu province, rescuers struggled to remove tons of rock and earth after a tunnel collapse trapped 14 men at one of Asia's largest copper mines. Lingling - a Chinese pet name for a young girl - was centered 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of Coron, Palawan, about 300 kilometers (180 miles) southwest of Manila, at 2 a.m. (1800 GMT Thursday) with sustained winds of 105 kilometers (65 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 135 kph (84 mph), weather officials said. It was moving northwest at 11 kph (7 mph) and was expected to gather speed and become a typhoon, perhaps Saturday, as it approaches the South China Sea. In Mahinog, urgent requests went out for chain saws to cut through trees and other debris, and for anyone with a shovel to help with digging. Only five of 200 houses were still standing in Hubangon, one of the villages in Mahinog. Fast-moving flood waters bearing boulders cascaded from hills around Hibok-Hibok, one of seven volcanoes on the island, into mountain villages in Mahinog and riverside communities in Catarman as most people were still sleeping Wednesday. Camiguin, famed for its beach resorts, normally misses out on the worst from the typhoon season that batters the Southeast Asian nation every year because most storms track to the north. The storm was the biggest calamity to hit Camiguin since 1951, when Hibok-Hibok volcano erupted, killing 500 people. Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman appealed for help and donations, particularly bedding and powdered milk for children. Flooding hit other parts of the Philippines. Eight people died in Negros Occidental province, where about 40,000 people were evacuated and officials declared a state of emergency. The storm knocked out electricity and flooded many parts of central Leyte, Samar and Bacolod provinces. (ot-amb-pax-str (eg)) ---- The Associated Press State & Local Wire November 8, 2001, Thursday, BC cycle Rescuers call for help digging out dead, searching for missing from tropical storm Lingling BYLINE: By PAT ROQUE, Associated Press Writer SECTION: International News LENGTH: 627 words DATELINE: MAHINOG, Philippines Workers scurried to embalm dozens of corpses Thursday and rescuers called for anyone with a shovel to help search for about 100 people missing on a resort island ravaged by tropical storm Lingling. At least 88 people in several provinces died - 72 in the town of Mahinog - when Lingling swamped much of the central and southern Philippines with torrential downpours Wednesday, officials said. A cargo ship carrying 19 Filipino crewmen sank Thursday in stormy seas off the northwestern Philippines while heading to Hong Kong with logs from Indonesia. There was no word on survivors as the storm hampered rescue efforts. About 5,000 people were evacuated from the island province of Camiguin, the worst-hit area, 710 kilometers (440 miles) southeast of Manila, where the rain was so heavy that it dislodged volcanic boulders and sent them crashing into villages. "We need volunteers who have picks and shovels to help search for the missing," regional Police Chief Rodolfo Caisip said. "We call on help from all government sectors." One body turned up on a beach and others under piles of mud Thursday. Authorities in Camiguin - a 29,000-hectare (71,700-acre) island that is home to 74,000 people - said the toll may rise, with Caisip saying many may be buried under tons of mud. Searchers said they faced a daunting task because the destruction was so complete in some areas that it was difficult to tell where houses had stood before walls of water, mud and other debris crashed down while most people were still sleeping Wednesday. In Mahinog, dozens of corpses, mostly elderly and children, were lined up on a basketball court as people nervously inspected posted lists of the dead and missing. Workers cleaned and embalmed the bodies to protect them from the heat and humidity. Camiguin normally misses out on the worst from the typhoon season that batters the Southeast Asian nation every year because most storms track to the north, but a four-hour pre-dawn deluge took residents by surprise. Casiano Matela, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, said residents reported hearing a thunderous water spout - a tornado over water - before the flash floods. Flood waters bearing boulders cascaded from hills around Hibok-Hibok, one of seven volcanoes on the island, into mountain villages in Mahinog and riverside communities in Catarman, he said. The flood waters ripped apart some houses in Mahinog, slamming a jeep through the wall of one. Damaged roads and a destroyed bridge prevented rescuers from reaching some communities. "The highway appeared like a river bed, and you could see uprooted trees," Camiguin Gov. Pedro Romualdo said. "All roads are heavily damaged. I still cannot believe what happened." He said the storm was the biggest calamity to hit Camiguin since 1951, when Hibok-Hibok volcano erupted, killing 500 people. Romualdo said the island's well-known tourist resorts escaped serious damage from Lingling. Flooding hit other parts of the Philippines as the storm moved northwest. Two girls were killed in Toledo City in central Cebu province, and two in Negros Occidental province near Cebu. At least two miners were reported missing near Toledo after a mine shaft collapsed. Lingling, with gusts up to 90 kilometers (56 miles) per hour, was expected to reach the Calamian islands, 300 kilometers (180 miles) south of Manila, by Friday morning, weather officials said. Satellite photos showed heavy clouds over much of the sprawling archipelago. The storm knocked out electricity and flooded many parts of central Leyte and Samar provinces, where elementary and high schools were closed. There were no immediate reports of casualties in those two provinces. ot-amb-pax-str (eg) ---- November 8, 2001, Thursday, BC cycle At least 88 dead in Philippines after flash floods from tropical storm Lingling SECTION: International News LENGTH: 421 words DATELINE: CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines Tropical storm Lingling swamped the Philippines with heavy rains that dislodged volcanic boulders and sent them crashing into villages Wednesday. At least 88 people were killed and many more were missing from flash floods and landslides. Hardest hit was Camiguin, an island province known for its beach resorts, where officials said 72 bodies had been brought to a gymnasium in the town of Mahinog. Officials said 100 other people were missing and about 5,000 were evacuated. A cargo ship carrying 19 Filipino crewmen sank Thursday in stormy seas off the northwestern Philippines. There was no word on survivors as the storm hampered rescue efforts. Camiguin, about 440 miles southeast of Manila, normally escapes the worst of the typhoon season that batters the northern Philippines every year. But on Wednesday, a four-hour deluge in the pre-dawn darkness took residents by surprise. "I could not believe this would happen. Entire houses were swept away," Gov. Pedro Romualdo said by telephone. Casiano Matela, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, said residents reported hearing a thunderous water spout - a tornado over water - before the flash floods. Floodwaters bearing boulders cascaded from Hibok-Hibok, one of seven volcanoes on the island, into mountain villages in Mahinog and riverside communities in Catarman, he said. Romualdo said search-and-rescue teams could not reach some communities because of damaged roads and a destroyed bridge. Matela said weather forced back helicopters trying to reach the island. In addition to the deaths in Mahinog, at least 12 other people were killed in the towns of Sagay, Catarman and the provincial capital of Mambajao, Matela said. Flooding hit other parts of the Philippines as the storm moved north. Two girls were killed in Toledo City in the province of Cebu and two in Negros Occidental province, near Cebu. Lingling, with gusts reaching 56 mph, was expected to cross central Panay island, about 250 miles southeast of Manila, late Wednesday as it blew northwest at 8 mph, the weather bureau said. The storm knocked out electricity and flooded many parts of central Leyte and Samar provinces, where schools were closed. There were no immediate reports of casualties in those two provinces. Stormy seas forced the coast guard to stop ferry services to Camiguin. Hundreds of passengers waiting to cross from the southeastern tip of the main island of Luzon to the central Visayas islands were reported stranded at the port. ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 8, 2001 Thursday 13 miners feared dead as tunnel collapses in Philippines storm SECTION: International News LENGTH: 146 words DATELINE: CEBU, Philippines, Nov 8 Thirteen miners are feared dead after a tropical storm battering the Philippines caused a tunnel to collapse on the central island of Cebu, officials said Thursday. The tunnel caved in Wednesday as the group salvaged copper mining equipment for the shuttered Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. in nearby Toledo City, city administrator Filomeno Plaza said. Heavy rains from tropical storm Lingling appeared to have caused the collapse. At least 66 people have been reported dead and more than 100 others missing after Lingling swept through the central and southern Philippines on Wednesday. Heavy equipment was sent to the tunnel to dig out the miners but rescue work was hampered by landslides which blocked the road to Toledo. Atlas closed down in 1995 and many of the laid-off workers have resorted to salvaging mining equipment to sell. ---- Evening Times (Glasgow) November 8, 2001 Storm claims 68 lives SECTION: Pg. 14 LENGTH: 72 words A DESPERATE hunt has been launched to find 150 people missing after tropical storm Lingling hit the Philippines. At least 68 people died when Lingling swamped much of the central and southern parts of the country with torrential downpours. About 5000 residents were evacuated from the island of Camiguin, the worst-hit area, where rain was so heavy it dislodged volcanic boulders and sent them crashing into villages. ---- XINHUA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE November 8, 2001, Thursday Foreign Cargo Vessel Sinks off Northern Philippine Coast SECTION: WORLD NEWS; OTHERS LENGTH: 181 words DATELINE: MANILA, November 8 A foreign cargo vessel sank 133 kilometers from the coastline of Dasol city in the northern Philippine province of Pangasinan Thursday afternoon. Identified as MV Oppen, the cargo vessel is bound from Indonesia to Hong Kong, a Philippine Star on-line report quoted Lieutenant Armand Balilan of the Philippine Coast Guard as saying. Loaded with logs, the vessel had a Filipino crew of 20 on board, with a captain named Juanito Baylon, the report said. The Coast Guard has been trying to conduct rescue operations, but its helicopters still remain landed due to the bad weather caused by a typhoon internationally coded "Lingling." "Lingling" cut its way into the Philippines on Wednesday night, bringing torrential rains that have resulted in serious flooding in the central and southern part of the county. Philippine disaster coordinating authorities said Thursday afternoon that 103 people were confirmed dead with another 245 reportedly missing in the floods and landslides in provinces of Camiguin and Cebu, and islands of Negros and Panay in the south. ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 8, 2001 Thursday 13 miners feared dead as tunnel collapses in Philippines storm SECTION: International News LENGTH: 229 words DATELINE: CEBU, Philippines, Nov 8 Thirteen miners are feared dead after a tropical storm battering the Philippines caused a tunnel to collapse on the central island of Cebu, officials said Thursday. Heavy rains spawned by tropical storm Lingling caused a tunnel in the closed Atlas Mining Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. in nearby Toledo City to collapse Wednesday, burying 13 miners who were trying to salvage copper mining equipment, officials said. Rescue operations were continuing, said regional disaster chief Angel Gaviola, but hope of finding the trapped victims alive had already faded. "It is already impossible to save them," Gaviola said, adding the miners were trapped under 100 meters of mud along with several company trucks. Volunteer groups were digging using only picks and shovels and their bare hands as heavy equipment could not immediately get to the site with roads leading to the area cut off by landslides, officials said. Lingling has been lashing the central and southern Philippines since Wednesday, carving a swathe of destruction that has already left at least 110 people dead and a total of 291 missing. Atlas closed down in 1995 and many of the laid-off workers have resorted to salvaging mining equipment to sell. Provincial disaster officials earlier reported that six of the 13 workers had been found dead, but later corrected the report. ---- XINHUA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE November 8, 2001, Thursday 13 Feared Killed in Tunnel Collapse in Central Philippines SECTION: WORLD NEWS; OTHERS LENGTH: 182 words DATELINE: MANILA, November 8 Thirteen miners have possibly been killed in a tunnel collapse caused by a rampant tropical storm in Toledo City in the central Philippine province of Cebu, officials said. The mining tunnel was crushed Wednesday in the heavy rain brought by the tropical storm, internationally coded "Lingling", a on-line news report of the Philippine Daily Inquirer said Thursday. The tunnel belongs to a local copper mining corporation shuttered down in 1995, but the laid-off workers had been reportedly removing the mining equipment inside the tunnels to sell for money. Heavy-duty machines have been sent to the tunnel to search for the caved miners but rescue work was delayed by landslides blocking the road to Toledo, the report said. At least 66 people have been reported dead, and more than 100 others are missing after "Lingling" swept through the central and southern Philippines as of Wednesday. Disaster coordinating authority here said the casualties are likely to grow as the storm is forecast to stay in the southern Philippines in the near future. ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 8, 2001 Thursday 19 Filipino seamen missing as cargo ship sinks off Philippines SECTION: International News LENGTH: 227 words DATELINE: MANILA, Nov 8 Nineteen Filipino crew members were missing Thursday after a Panama-flagged cargo vessel sank off the northern Philippines coast amid a tropical storm, the coastguard said. Big waves stirred by tropical storm Lingling caused the 5,800-ton Ho Feng 8 to tip over and eventually sink in rough seas some 78 nautical miles northeast of Dasol town in northern Pangasinan province, Lieutenant Commander Gonzalo Magno said. Preliminary coastguard reports had incorrectly identified the vessel as Hoseng 8. Coastguard vessels and air force helicopters have been dispatched to the area to join the search, the transportation department here said. However, stormy weather was preventing them from entering the area, Magno said. The ship, owned by Sang Feng Marine Co., was en route to Hong Kong from Indonesia with a cargo of logs and had been properly informed of the cyclone, Magno said. "The waves are very big in that area causing the cable binding the logs to snap and tilting the vessel," Magno said. Search and rescue teams have been dispatched to the area but were having difficulty reaching the site amid stormy weather, he said. None of the 19 crewmen have been found. Tropical storm Lingling continued to sweep across the central Philippines on Thursday leaving at least 110 people dead and 291 missing, including Ho Feng 8's crew. ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 8, 2001 Thursday Philippines storm toll rises to 90, 175 missing SECTION: International News LENGTH: 567 words DATELINE: MANILA, Nov 8 The death toll from tropical storm Lingling's killer sweep through the central and southern Philippines rose to at least 90 on Thursday with another 175 people still missing. The death toll had stood at 66 overnight. The tiny southern island of Camiguin suffered the greatest damage, with 78 dead and 149 missing, Congressman Jurdin Romualdo, the province's representative, said in an interview with a local radio station. Camiguin was hit by heavy rain and flash floods spawned by the storm late at night Tuesday while most of the victims were sleeping, giving little warning of the danger, the congressman said. "It was a sudden, heavy downpour that created this torrent of water. It was nighttime and they were caught unawares," said Major General Melchor Rosales, a civil defense official. Weather forecaster Prisco Nilo said that the volume of the rain that fell on the island was such that people thought they were being hit with tornadoes, as many of the survivors reported. "We have been talking to the relatives of the deceased, asking them to just embalm (them) for the meantime but many want to bury (their dead) so we are mass-producing coffins so they can be taken there," Romualdo said. "I asked them to clean (the bodies) up, don't let them be displayed all covered with mud." Romualdo said life on the island of about 65,000 people had been paralyzed by the disaster and that rains continued to hamper relief efforts. Electricity supply in four of Camiguin's five towns had not yet been restored since the storm hit. "In one area, there was a waist-high stretch of earth that peeled off from the mountain and covered the highway," Romualdo said. Military helicopter pilots flying overhead "thought it was a riverbed. It turned out it was a highway covered with water and mud." The storm, now packing maximum winds of 90 kilometers (56 miles) per hour, was forecast to continue west at nine kilometers (5.6 miles) an hour across the central islands before exiting into the South China Sea on Saturday morning. In the central island of Cebu, 13 miners were feared dead after a tunnel collapsed due to heavy rains that weakened the earth, city officials said. Heavy equipment was rushed to the mine site to dig them out but were blocked by landslides on the road. Lingling crept in from the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday morning, dumping heavy rain on central islands and sections of the south. The central cities of Cebu, Roxas and Iloilo were largely flooded. Provincial officials in the central island of Negros said they suffered two dead and six missing and that about 2,000 families were forced to flee their homes due to landslides and rising waters. Power was still off Thursday in large areas of the island. Schoolhouses and government buildings were converted into evacuation centers in affected areas with civil defense officials assuring the public that they had enough relief goods to provide for any evacuees. The second level of a three-step storm alert is in effect over portions of Panay island and the islands of Cuyo, Mindoro and Romblon and the Calamian group while a first level storm alert has been hoisted over the southern areas of the main Philippine island of Luzon and nearby islands. Up to 20 typhoons and storms hit the Philippines every year but they mostly affect northern areas and are rare this late in the year. ---- November 8, 2001, Thursday, BC cycle As storm death toll passes 100 in Philippines, survivors recall rushing waters BYLINE: By PAT ROQUE, Associated Press Writer SECTION: International News LENGTH: 754 words DATELINE: MAHINOG, Philippines Tropical storm Lingling battered the Philippines for a second day Thursday, leaving at least 110 people dead, sinking a cargo ship and virtually shutting down several provinces. The death toll included 80 in Mahinog town on the resort island of Camiguin, which suffered its worst disaster in a half-century. With 300 people missing, officials said the overall toll was likely to rise. By early Friday morning, the center of the storm was over open water about 180 miles southwest of Manila. It had winds of 65 mph and was moving slowly toward the South China Sea. Forecasters said it could strengthen into a typhoon with winds of at least 74 mph. Nineteen of the missing were Filipino crewmen on a cargo ship that sank Thursday in stormy seas off the northwestern Philippines. There was no word on survivors, as the poor weather hampered rescue efforts. The storm was blamed for the collapse of a tunnel in a copper mine in Cebu province. Rescue workers on Friday were trying to reach 14 miners trapped under tons of rock and earth. Most of the other deaths were caused by flash flooding spurred by the torrential rain. Authorities said fast-moving water bearing boulders cascaded from hills surrounding Mahinog and some other riverside communities as many people were still sleeping Wednesday. Recovery efforts in Mahinog, which reported 203 people missing, continued into Friday morning. As the devastated town ran out of embalming fluid to preserve the dead, a backhoe dug a massive hole in the town cemetery and workers buried 15 people in plywood coffins. Twenty coffin makers worked around the clock as bodies piled up. Urgent requests went out for chain saws to cut through trees and other debris, and for anyone with a shovel to help dig through tons of mud. But the devastation was so complete - only five houses were still standing in Hubangon, one of the villages that make up Mahinog - that it was hard to tell where most homes had stood. "I saw the people, the children, the innocent who died," Camiguin Gov. Pedro Romualdo said, sobbing as he spoke to ABS-CBN television. "It's the first time I've seen something like this." Casiano Matela, regional director of the provincial Office of Civil Defense, said residents reported hearing a thunderous water spout - a tornado over water - before the flash floods hit. Police officer Romeo Jaguilma and his family survived in Hubangon by climbing on the roof of their concrete house, which withstood the flood waters, and clutching their children in the darkness as he sang a hymn. They could hear cries for help from their neighbors over the rushing water all around them. "The noise was very deafening," said Jaguilma's wife Lorna, 36. "It sounded like a hundred trucks and a hundred boats all arriving at the same time." Her husband said he also could hear boulders hitting the side of the house. Three coconut trees and two small fruit trees provided some protection. Dozens of corpses, mostly elderly and children, were lined up on a basketball court in Mahinog as people nervously inspected posted lists of the dead and missing. "We have to bury them this afternoon; otherwise they will cause a stench and pose health risks," Mahinog Mayor Benedicto Castanares said as about 20 workers made coffins in the back of the gymnasium. Camiguin normally avoids the worst from the typhoon season that batters the Southeast Asian nation every year because most storms track to the north, but a four-hour pre-dawn deluge took residents by surprise. Damaged roads and a destroyed bridge prevented rescuers from reaching some communities. "The highway appeared like a river bed, and you could see uprooted trees," Romualdo said. "All roads are heavily damaged. I still cannot believe what happened." He said the storm was the biggest calamity to hit Camiguin since 1951, when Hibok-Hibok volcano erupted, killing 500 people. About 5,000 of Camiguin's 74,000 people were evacuated from the island 440 miles southeast of Manila. Romualdo said the island's well-known tourist resorts escaped serious damage from Lingling. Flooding hit other parts of the Philippines as the storm moved northwest. Two girls were killed in Toledo City in central Cebu province, and eight in Negros Occidental province, where about 40,000 people were evacuated and officials declared a state of calamity. The storm knocked out electricity and flooded many parts of central Leyte, Samar and Bacolod provinces, where many schools were closed. ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 9, 2001 Friday Philippine death toll from storm Lingling climbs to 140 SECTION: International News LENGTH: 210 words DATELINE: MANILA, Nov 9 The death toll from tropical storm Lingling which hit the Philippines this week rose to 140 on Friday with at least 257 still missing and feared dead, officials said. The southern island province of Camiguin bore the brunt of the storm with 97 dead and 222 still missing after Lingling caused landslides and flashfloods that devastated whole towns, the provincial government said. Lingling hit Camiguin late Tuesday, catching many of the residents asleep and unprepared as their homes were engulfed in a huge torrent of mud caused by heavy rains. Seventeen people were also drowned in several towns in the central island of Negros, while other central islands reported smaller numbers of fatalities. The unseasonal storm swept through the central and southern Philippines, hitting areas which are normally bypassed by the frequent typhoons that strike the northern Philippines. Disaster-monitoring agencies said more than 63,500 people nationwide were forced to evacuate their homes because of rising floodwaters. Before dawn Friday, the storm, packing maximum winds of 135 kilometers (84 miles) per hour, was charted west of the island of Mindoro, moving northwest away from the Philippines at about 19 kilometers (12 miles) per hour. ---- The Associated Press State & Local Wire November 9, 2001, Friday, BC cycle Workers dig mass graves as death toll rises in Philippines from tropical storm Lingling BYLINE: By PAT ROQUE, Associated Press Writer SECTION: International News LENGTH: 605 words DATELINE: MAHINOG, Philippines Amid rising fear of disease, workers dug mass graves and rescue workers dug up bodies beneath mud, boulders and disintegrated homes Friday on a resort island swamped by tropical storm Lingling. As the devastated town of Mahinog ran out of embalming fluid to preserve the dead, a backhoe dug a massive hole in the town cemetery and workers buried 15 people in plain plywood coffins. Twenty coffin makers worked around the clock as bodies piled up. The death toll rose to at least 127, the vast majority in Mahinog on the resort island of Camuigin, as workers, often guided by the smell of decomposing bodies, searched the remains of disintegrated houses for some of the nearly 300 missing. More than 130 were also injured and more than 650 homes were destroyed or damaged on the island of 75,000 inhabitants, said Camiguin Gov. Pedro Romualdo. Romualdo called for donations of body bags, rice and blankets. The Mahinog municipal health officer, Dr. Juanita Llacuna, said the dead must be buried immediately to prevent disease because they are decomposing swiftly. On Thursday, Lingling battered the Philippines for a second day, sinking a cargo ship and virtually shutting down everything in its path with drenching rain as it crawled across the sprawling archipelago. Nineteen Filipino crewmen on a cargo ship went missing in stormy seas off the northwestern Philippines. There was no word on survivors as the poor weather hampered rescue efforts. Rescue workers struggled to remove tons of rock and earth after a tunnel collapse trapped 14 men at one of Asia's largest copper mines, in central Cebu province. A helicopter was standing in case survivors were found. The center of Lingling, a Chinese pet name for a young girl, was 170 kilometers (30 miles) west northwest of Coron island in the extreme western province of Palawan, about 300 kilometers (180 miles) southwest of Manila, at 10 a.m. (0200 GMT), weather officials said. It carried sustained winds of 105 kilometers (65 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 135 kph (84 mph), weather officials said. The storm was moving northwest at 15 kph (9 mph) and was expected to intensify into a typhoon, perhaps Saturday morning, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) west northwest of Coron. In Mahinog, urgent requests went out for chain saws to cut through trees and other debris, and for anyone with a shovel to help dig through tons of mud. But the devastation was so complete - only five of 200 houses were still standing in Hubangon, one of the villages that make up Mahinog - that it was hard to tell where most homes had stood. Fast-moving flood waters bearing boulders cascaded from hills around Hibok-Hibok, one of seven volcanoes on the island, into mountain villages in Mahinog and riverside communities in Catarman as most people were still sleeping Wednesday. Camiguin, famed for its beach resorts that escaped serious damage, normally misses out on the worst from the typhoon season that batters the Southeast Asian nation every year because most storms track to the north. The storm was the biggest calamity to hit Camiguin since 1951, when Hibok-Hibok volcano erupted, killing 500 people. Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman appealed for help and donations, particularly bedding and powdered milk for children. Flooding hit other parts of the Philippines. Eight people died in Negros Occidental province, where about 40,000 people were evacuated and officials declared a state of calamity. The storm knocked out electricity and flooded many parts of central Leyte, Samar and Bacolod provinces. ot-amb-pax-str (eg) ---- The New York Times November 9, 2001 Friday Late Edition - Final A Toll of 350 Feared as Storm Hits Philippines BYLINE: Reuters SECTION: Section A; Column 1; Foreign Desk; Pg. 5 LENGTH: 516 words DATELINE: MAHINOG, Philippines, Nov. 8 A devastating storm ripping through the Philippines' central and southern regions may have killed as many as 350 people, most of them in an area known as Paradise Island, officials said today. The tropical storm, designated Lingling, hit the southern island of Camiguin on Wednesdsay, sending a river of mud and boulders tumbling from the hills, flattening hundreds of houses. Some 234 people were missing and feared dead on the island, the regional civil defense director, Casiano Matela, said by telephone. He said the victims were buried under mud three meters -- about 10 feet -- deep. "I think they are all dead." The governor of Camiguin, Pedro Romualdo, wept in front of reporters, saying he felt most sorry for the many children who had died. Rescue workers on Camiguin were continuing their search in any case. The storm also hit the central Visayas region, triggering more floods and landslides. At least 115 bodies have been recovered in four provinces. Cities and towns in the region were plunged into darkness, and a tunnel in Asia's largest copper mine on Cebu Island collapsed, killing 11 workers. Four other people died there, 10 drowned on sugar-growing Negros Island and another death was reported in Bohol. The storm, with winds gusting up to 56 miles per hour, was much weaker than Hurricane Michelle, which lashed Central America, Cuba and the Bahamas earlier in the week, killing 16 people in Central America and 5 in Cuba. But Lingling has been more deadly because of the flash floods caused by the rainwater runoff down the volcanic cliffs of Camiguin. Thousands of villagers fled their homes early Wednesday when the storm struck. Heavy winds felled coconut trees in Hubangon village in the town of Mahinog, throwing them across roads and onto houses. Walls of mud carrying boulders the size of cars smashed into the village. Of some 200 houses there, only about 10 were still standing after the storm passed. In one part of the village, all that remained were bits of furniture. "We expect the number of dead to rise as rescuers keep on digging for more bodies," Mahinog's mayor, Benedicto Castanarez, said. The storm continued to pummel the central islands of Panay and Negros today and was expected to hit Palawan island in the west on Friday before heading across the South China Sea toward Vietnam, the weather bureau said. A Panamanian-registered ship carrying logs from Indonesia to Hong Kong sank in choppy seas north of the Philippines, and its 19 Filipino crew members were missing, the Philippine coast guard said. In Mahinog today, a farmer, Felicito Abao, wept outside a gymnasium where most of the dead were laid out. One body was that of his youngest child, a baby. "I am still looking for my wife and my two other daughters," Mr. Abao said. He said he lost them when their house crumbled after torrents of mud slammed into it. "The rains were so strong and the winds were fierce," he said. "Suddenly, our house collapsed and we were swimming in the water. "I could hear my children crying," he said. "I was clutching them, then they were gone. So was my wife." ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 9, 2001 Friday Philippine storm death toll could top 400 SECTION: International News LENGTH: 642 words DATELINE: CAMIGUIN, Philippines, Nov 9 Fears the death toll from a storm which has devastated this Philippine holiday island could top 400 mounted Friday as relief workers struggled to get food and medicine to 7,000 people made homeless by the disaster. With the only airport on the island closed and many areas still flooded, aid efforts were being seriously hampered, officials said. Tropical storm Lingling hit the central and southern Philippines late Tuesday and by Friday the confirmed death toll had reached 131 with as many as 274 still missing, feared dead. As more bodies were dug from the mud, reports of devastation in outlying areas were still pouring in. Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said in Manila that she would visit the island on Sunday to assess the damage and the needs of the victims. "There are (foreign) countries... that are ready to asssist if (the victims') needs are very, very large but of course, it is very important we give them a good list of requirements," Arroyo said. Jesus Dureza, Arroyo's special adviser on the southern Philippines, said the immediate need was for medicine and food for the more than 7,000 evacuees displaced by the deadly floods and landslides. "We need more assistance to keep the relief operations going," he added. He said they were still trying to find ways to move the "tonnes and tonnes of boulders that have buried some residential areas" in order to recover more bodies. Camiguin, a former island paradise and tourist attraction famous for its picturesque beaches and bountiful fruits, is now a wasteland after suffering the worst damage from the unseasonal storm. At least 88 people from the island were killed and 239 others are still missing there after Lingling caused landslides and flashfloods that devastated whole towns, said Colonel Ernesto Lumang, head of military unit assigned to disaster relief. The storm also left 43 dead and 35 others still missing elsewhere in the central and southern Philippines, relief officials said. Camiguin Governor Pedro Romualdo wept openly as he viewed the devastation, much of it in what was once the island's most prosperous districts. "I still cannot believe what happened. I've never seen anything like this," the governor said. Workers and soldiers, many using shovels, picks and even bare hands, dug through the mud to unearth dead bodies, many already stiff and bloated, eyewitnesses said. Colonel Ernesto Lumang, head of the military unit taking part in rescue efforts, was pessimistic, saying "we believe that most of the missing are dead. Maybe 90 percent of them." "This is terrible. Nature has devastated this beautiful paradise," said Lumang. Mahinog town, once a showplace of Camiguin, saw its houses and orchards of fruit-bearing trees buried under a deluge of mud and boulders swept down by the heavy rainfall. The town gymnasium was turned into a makeshift morgue where dozens of corpses were lined up on galvanized iron sheets so that anxious relatives could try to identify them. Workmen rushed to prepare crude plywood coffins so that the dead could be swiftly buried. Electrical power had been restored to some areas of the island which has a population of about 65,000. Governor Romualdo also said they were cleaning up the airport runway so supply planes could start landing there. Camiguin, north of the main southern island of Mindanao, has previously been bypassed by the frequent typhoons that strike the northern Philippines and officials said the populace was unprepared for the fury of Lingling. Other areas of the central and southern Philippines are also still flooded or suffering from landslides and mudflow which block roads. Lingling was charted before dawn Friday at the west of the island of Mindoro, moving northwest away from the country at about 19 kilometers (12 miles) per hour. ---- The Advertiser November 9, 2001, Friday Storm claims victims SECTION: FOREIGN; Pg. 31 LENGTH: 72 words MAHINOG, Philippines: Rescuers called for anyone with a shovel to help search for about 100 people missing on a resort island ravaged by tropical storm Lingling. At least 88 people in several provinces died - 72 in Mahinog - when Lingling swamped much of the central and southern Philippines with torrential downpours, officials said. About 5000 people were evacuated from the island province of Camiguin, the worst-hit area. ---- Belfast News Letter (Northern Ireland) November 9, 2001, Friday STORM DEATH TOLL MOUNTS SECTION: WORLD NEWS; Pg. 15 LENGTH: 104 words WORKERS scurried to embalm dozens of corpses yesterday and rescuers called for anyone with a shovel to help search for about 150 people missing on a Philippines resort island ravaged by tropical storm Lingling. At least 68 people in several provinces died - 52 in Mahinog town - when Lingling swamped much of the central and southern Philippines with torrential downpours yesterday. About 5,000 people were evacuated from the island province of Camiguin, the worst-hit area, 440 miles south east of Manila, where the rain was so heavy that it dislodged volcanic boulders and sent them crashing into villages. ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 9, 2001 Friday Storm death toll climbs to 122 in Philippines SECTION: International News LENGTH: 550 words DATELINE: CAMIGUIN, Philippines, Nov 9 Medicine and food was being sent Friday to this tiny southern Philippine island which bore the brunt of a tropical storm that has killed at least 122 people and left 274 missing. But with the only airport on the island closed and many areas still flooded, relief workers were finding it difficult to bring in supplies quickly, officials said. Tropical storm Lingling hit the central and southern Philippines starting late Tuesday and by Thursday, at least 110 people were dead and 291 missing. Relief officials said the death toll on Friday climbed to 122 early with 274 missing and feared dead, as more bodies were dug from the mud and damage reports continued to pour in. Jesus Dureza, President Gloria Arroyo's special adviser on the southern Philippines, said the immediate need was for medicine and food for the more than 7,000 evacuees displaced by the deadly floods and landslides. Camiguin, a former island paradise and tourist attraction famous for its picturesque beaches and bountiful fruits, is now a wasteland after suffering the worst damage from the unseasonal storm. At least 88 people from the island were killed and 239 others are still missing after Lingling caused landslides and flashfloods that devastated whole towns, said Colonel Ernesto Lumang, head of military unit assigned to disaster relief. The storm also left 34 dead and 35 others still missing elsewhere in the central and southern Philippines, relief officials said. Camiguin Governor Pedro Romualdo wept openly as he viewed the devastation, much of it in what was once the island's most prosperous districts. "I still cannot believe what happened. I've never seen anything like this," the governor said. Workers and soldiers, many using shovels, picks and even bare hands, dug through the mud to unearth dead bodies, many already stiff and bloated, eyewitnesses said. Colonel Ernesto Lumang, head of the military unit taking part in rescue efforts, was pessimistic, saying "we believe that most of the missing are dead. Maybe 90 percent of them." "This is terrible. Nature has devastated this beautiful paradise," said Lumang. Mahinog town, once a showplace of Camiguin, saw its houses and orchards of fruit-bearing trees buried under a deluge of mud and boulders swept down by the heavy rainfall. The town gymnasium was turned into a makeshift morgue where dozens of corpses were lined up on galvanized iron sheets so that anxious relatives could try to identify them. Workmen rushed to prepare crude plywood coffins so that the dead could be swiftly buried. Electrical power had been restored to some areas of the island which has a population of about 65,000. Camiguin, north of the main southern island of Mindanao, has previously been bypassed by the frequent typhoons that strike the northern Philippines and officials said the populace was unprepared for the fury of Lingling. Other areas of the central and southern Philippines are also still flooded or suffering from landslides and mudflow which blocks roads. Dureza said it was too early to estimate the damage to crops and infrastructure caused by the storm which was charted before dawn Friday, west of the island of Mindoro, moving northwest away from the country at about 19 kilometers (12 miles) per hour. ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 9, 2001 Friday Lingling flies out of the Philippines after killing up to 300 SECTION: International News LENGTH: 569 words DATELINE: MAHINOG, Philippines, Nov 9 Tropical storm Lingling roared out of the Philippines Friday after a three-day rampage that may have killed as many as 300 people, officials said. As the storm left, the first food and medical airlifts reached the devastated southern holiday island of Camiguin where shell-shocked survivors were hurriedly burying rotting corpses. Many of the bodies were pulled out from under piles of boulders and logs that had flattened their homes in Mahinog, once one of the most prosperous towns on the island. Civil defense officials placed the nationwide toll at 141 dead with 166 missing. Another 152 people were injured. The worst hit area was Camiguin where 97 people were killed, 131 were missing and another 131 were injured. Rescuers had earlier placed the number of people missing there at 222. Colonel Ernesto Lumang, commander of an army battalion leading the recovery of bodies, told reporters there had been an early miscount of the missing, leading to the revised figure. The typhoon also displaced at least 100,000 people when it unleashed floods in a number of central and southern islands starting on Tuesday night, the civil defense office in Manila said. The storm finally swept out into the South China Sea northwest of Palawan island early Friday, weathermen said. Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said in Manila that she would visit Camiguin on Sunday to assess the damage and the needs of the victims. "There are (foreign) countries ... that are ready to assist if (the victims') needs are very, very large but of course, it is very important we give them a good list of requirements," Arroyo said. Jesus Dureza, Arroyo's special adviser on the southern Philippines, said the immediate need was for medicine and food for the more than 7,000 displaced Camiguin people. Dureza said authorities were still trying to find ways to move the "tonnes and tonnes of boulders" that have crushed some residential areas and where more bodies are feared to be buried. Camiguin, a former island paradise and tourist attraction famous for its picturesque beaches and bountiful fruits, is now a wasteland after suffering the worst damage from the unseasonal storm. Camiguin Governor Pedro Romualdo wept openly as he viewed the devastation, much of it in what was once the island's most prosperous districts. "I still can not believe what happened. I've never seen anything like this," the governor said. Workers and soldiers, many using shovels, picks and even bare hands, dug through the mud to unearth dead bodies, many already stiff and bloated, eyewitnesses said. "We believe that most of the missing are dead. Maybe 90 percent of them," Lumang said. "This is terrible. Nature has devastated this beautiful paradise." The town gymnasium was turned into a makeshift morgue where dozens of corpses were lined up on galvanized iron sheets so that relatives could try to identify them. Workmen fashioned crude plywood coffins so that the dead could be swiftly buried. The military plane landed at the muddy airport runway in mid-afternoon, bringing food, medical workers and cadaver bags. Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman led the team. Camiguin, north of the main southern island of Mindanao, has previously been bypassed by the frequent typhoons that strike the northern Philippines and officials said the populace was unprepared for the fury of Lingling. ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 9, 2001 Friday Storm leaves devastation, corpses in Philippine resort island SECTION: International News LENGTH: 479 words DATELINE: CAMIGUIN, Philippines, Nov 9 The peaceful Philippine island of Camiguin, a tourist attraction noted for its picturesque beaches and bountiful fruits, was a scene of horror Friday after being struck by deadly tropical storm Lingling. At least 81 people were killed and 239 others are still missing after the storm hit this southern island late Tuesday, causing mudslides and flashfloods that engulfed whole towns. The storm also left 41 dead and 35 others still missing elsewhere in the central and southern Philippines, relief officials said. Camiguin Governor Pedro Romualdo wept openly as he viewed the devastation, much of it in what was once the island's most prosperous villages. "I still cannot believe what happened. I've never seen anything like this," the governor said. Mahinog town, once a showplace of Camiguin, suffered the worst damage. Its houses were toppled and its residents' gardens of fruit-bearing trees casually swept away by the rampaging mudflow. "I can just imagine the hard work they do in order to uplift their living standards but all this was taken away in just the blink of an eye," Romualdo said. Workers and soldiers, many using shovels, picks and even bare hands, dug through the mud to unearth dead bodies, many already stiff and bloated, eyewitnesses said. Colonel Ernesto Lumang, head of the military unit taking part in rescue efforts, was pessimistic, saying "we believe that most of the missing are dead. Maybe 90 percent of them." "This is terrible. Nature has devastated this beautiful paradise," said Lumang. The Mahinog gymnasium was turned into a makeshift morgue where dozens of corpses were lined up on galvanized iron sheets so that anxious relatives could try to identify them. Many of the island's residents were still in shock over the events. "There are many with traumas," said governor's aide Lea Roxas. Electrical power had been restored to some areas of the southern island but many parts of Camiguin were still flooded and some major roads were impassable, Roxas added. The tiny island of 65,000 people, north of the main southern island of Mindanao, has previously been bypassed by the frequent typhoons that strike the northern Philippines and officials said the populace was unprepared for the fury of Lingling. Relief goods and rescue workers are being rushed to the island but the storm has dumped mud on the Camiguin airport, rendering it unusable. Instead, supplies and rescuers must make a sea voyage across the still-churning waters to get to the island. Lumang appealed for more medicines, bottled water, mats and food for those affected. Camiguin with its white sand beaches, has long been a major tourist attraction that has been unaffected by the armed rebel groups that bedevil much of the southern Philippines. Visitors said that despite the damage, the tourist resorts appeared unaffected. ---- November 10, 2001, Saturday, BC cycle Lingling becomes typhoon, heads to Vietnam as Philippines counts it dead BYLINE: By OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press Writer SECTION: International News LENGTH: 337 words DATELINE: MANILA, Philippines Tropical storm Lingling intensified into a typhoon and blew toward Vietnam Saturday after killing 148 people and leaving 177 missing in the Philippines. The Philippines' Office of Civil Defense on Saturday lowered the number of missing to 177 from 300 earlier, but officials said they were losing hope of finding any more survivors. Flash floods and landslides claimed most of the 148 confirmed victims over the past five days, and the missing were feared buried under boulders, toppled trees and mud. "At this stage, there will be no more survivors ... but we are still continuing our recovery efforts," said Gov. Pedro Romualdo of Camiguin island, the worst-hit province. Officials said 107 bodies have been found and 119 people are still missing on the island, which lies about 440 miles southeast of Manila. Lingling had winds of 56 mph as it plowed through the Philippine islands, then headed out over the South China Sea. By Saturday afternoon, it had strengthened into a typhoon with winds of 132 mph, the U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. It was located about 370 miles east of central Vietnam and was expected to threaten the coast by Monday. The Vietnamese government on Saturday ordered local authorities in coastal provinces to call all fishing boats back to shore and bar any others from sailing. Melchor Rosales, executive director of the Philippines' National Disaster Coordinating Center, said rescue workers were using helicopters to scour the seas for survivors around Camiguin. "We will leave no stone unturned," Romualdo said, but added he had already spoken with relatives of the missing "to make them understand" that some may never be found. The storm's victims included 19 Filipino crew members from the 5,800-ton MV Ho-Feng 8 cargo ship, which sank off the western coast of the main Philippine island of Luzon. The ship was headed to Hong Kong carrying logs from Indonesia. Rosales said the storm damaged homes and displaced residents in 12 provinces. ---- Hamilton Spectator (Ontario, Canada) November 10, 2001 Saturday Final Edition Lingling storm kills 135 on island in Philippines SOURCE: The Associated Press SECTION: CANADA & WORLD; Pg. D08 LENGTH: 424 words DATELINE: MAHINOG, PHILIPPINES Workers prepared mass graves as search crews retrieved bodies from beneath boulders and disintegrated homes on a Philippine resort island swamped by Tropical Storm Lingling. Officials have confirmed 135 deaths, and another 300 people were still missing yesterday. As the devastated community of Mahinog ran out of embalming fluid to preserve the dead, a backhoe dug a huge hole in the town cemetery and workers buried 15 people in plain plywood coffins. Twenty coffin-makers worked around the clock as bodies piled up. Crews yesterday found the bodies of eight of 14 men trapped Thursday when the side of a defunct, open-pit copper mine collapsed. Most deaths have been reported in Mahinog on the resort island of Camuguin. More than 130 residents were injured and more than 650 homes were destroyed or damaged on the island of 75,000 people, said Camiguin Governor Pedro Romualdo. Romualdo called for donations of body bags, rice and blankets. The Mahinog municipal health officer, Dr. Juanita Llacuna, said the dead must be buried immediately because of fears of disease. Lingling battered the Philippines for two days before moving westward into the South China Sea. It sank a cargo ship, leaving 19 crew members missing, and drenched islands with rain as it crawled across the sprawling archipelago. By last evening the storm, with sustained winds of 106 km/h, was about 400 kilometres southwest of Manila over the South China Sea, moving westward. It was expected to strengthen into a typhoon and threaten Vietnam on Monday. In Mahinog, urgent requests went out for chain saws to cut through trees and debris, and for anyone with a shovel to help dig through tons of mud. But the devastation was so complete -- only five of 200 houses were still standing in Hubangon, one of the villages that make up Mahinog -- that it was hard to tell where most homes stood. Fast-moving flood waters bearing boulders cascaded from hills around Hibok-Hibok, one of seven volcanoes on the island, into mountain villages in Mahinog and riverside communities in Catarman as most people were still sleeping. Camiguin, famed for its beach resorts, is normally spared during typhoon season because most storms track to the north. The storm was the biggest calamity since the Hibok-Hibok volcano erupted and killed 500 people in 1951. Elsewhere in the Philippines, flooding from Lingling killed eight people in Negros Occidental province, where about 40,000 people were evacuated and officials declared a state of emergency. ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 10, 2001 Saturday Death toll from storm Lingling in the Philippines rises to 201 SECTION: International News LENGTH: 138 words DATELINE: MANILA, Nov 10 The death toll from tropical storm Lingling, which struck the central Philippines, has risen to 201 with at least 137 missing and feared dead, disaster-monitoring agencies said Saturday. The southern island of Camiguin suffered the worst, with 122 dead and 119 missing, said Colonel Ernesto Lumang, head of military units assisting in the search for victims and survivors. Lingling hit Camiguin late Tuesday, catching many of the residents asleep as their homes were engulfed in a torrent of mud caused by heavy rains. More than 188,500 people fled their homes in the southern and central islands due to the floods and mudslides caused by Lingling, the civil defense office said. Damage to infrastructure, crops and private property were estimated at 512.5 million pesos (9.86 million dollars), the office added. ---- Edmonton Journal (Alberta) November 10, 2001 Saturday Final Edition 135 dead as Philippines island swamped by storm Lingling SOURCE: AP SECTION: World; Pg. A9 LENGTH: 231 words DATELINE: Mahinog, Philippines Workers prepared mass graves as search crews retrieved bodies from beneath boulders and disintegrated homes Friday on a Philippine resort island swamped by Tropical Storm Lingling. Officials said they had confirmed 135 deaths and another 300 people were still missing on Friday. As the devastated community of Mahinog ran out of embalming fluid to preserve the dead, a backhoe dug a huge hole in the town cemetery and workers buried 15 people in plain plywood coffins. Twenty coffin-makers worked around the clock as bodies piled up. On Friday, crews found the bodies of eight of 14 men trapped Thursday when the side of a defunct, open-pit copper mine collapsed. Most of the deaths have been reported in Mahinog on the resort island of Camuigin. More than 130 residents were injured and more than 650 homes were destroyed or damaged on the island of 75,000 people, said Camuigin Gov. Pedro Romualdo. Romualdo called for donations of body bags, rice and blankets. Lingling battered the Philippines for two days before moving westward into the South China Sea. It sank a cargo ship, leaving 19 crew members missing, and drenched islands with rain as it crawled across the sprawling archipelago. By Friday evening the storm, with sustained winds of 106 km/h, was about 400 kilometres southwest of Manila. It was forecast to strengthen and hit Vietnam on Monday. ---- Associated Press International November 10, 2001 Saturday Tropical storm now a typhoon, heads to Vietnam after wreaking destruction in Philippines BYLINE: OLIVER TEVES; Associated Press Writer SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 438 words DATELINE: MANILA, Philippines Tropical storm Lingling intensified into a typhoon and blew toward Vietnam Saturday after killing 135 people and leaving 177 missing in central and southern Philippine provinces, officials said. Officials said they were losing hope of finding any survivors among the missing, including 119 on Camiguin island, the area hardest hit by the storm. Flash floods and landslides claimed most of the 135 known victims over the past five days and the missing were feared buried under boulders, toppled trees and mud. "At this stage, there will be no more survivors ... but we are still continuing our recovery efforts," Camiguin Gov. Pedro Romualdo said by telephone from the island 710 kilometers (440 miles) southeast of Manila. The storm packed winds of 90 kph (56 mph) as it plowed through the Philippine islands. But late Friday, Lingling picked up speed over the South China Seas, becoming a typhoon. At 10 a.m. (0200 GMT) Saturday, it was located about 560 kilometers (350 miles) west southwest of Manila, near the Spratly islands, and moving westward toward central Vietnam at 15 kph (10 mph). Its sustained winds were 120 kph (75 mph) with gusts of up to 150 kph (94 mph), an official from Vietnam's National Center for Hydro Meteorology said on condition of anonymity. The Spratlys are about 450 kilometers (280 miles) off Vietnam's central southern coast. Romualdo said officials on Camiguin, where 107 bodies have been recovered, have not yet decided when to stop searching for bodies. "We will leave no stone unturned," Romualdo said, adding he has already spoken with relatives of the missing "to make them understand" that some may never be found. Initial reports from the provinces indicated that about 300 people were missing, though official figures from the Office of Civil Defense early Saturday showed the number was only 177, including 19 Filipino crew members from a cargo ship that sank Thursday. The 5,800-ton MV Ho-Feng 8, heading to Hong Kong carrying logs from Indonesia, sank off the western coast of the main Philippine island of Luzon. Melchor Rosales, executive director of the National Disaster Coordinating Center, said rescue workers were still searching on Camiguin and using helicopters to scour the seas around the 29,000-hectare (71,630-acre) island. He said the storm damaged homes and displaced residents in 12 provinces, comprising more than 909,000 people. Bracing for Lingling's arrival, the Vietnam government on Saturday ordered local authorities in coastal provinces to call all fishing boats back to shore and ban any others from sailing. (ot-amb-tt-kh)< ---- November 10, 2001, Saturday PHILIPPINE STORM DEATH TOLL HITS110 SECTION: WORLD NEWS; Pg. 13 LENGTH: 195 words AMID rising fear of disease, workers dug mass graves and rescuers pulled bodies from under mud, boulders and collapsed homes yesterday on a Philippine resort island swamped by tropical storm Lingling. The death toll has risen to at least 110, including 80 in the devastated town of Mahinog. Workers, guided by the smell of decomposing bodies, searched the remains of houses for some of the nearly-300 missing. As Mahinog ran out of embalming fluid to preserve the dead, a mechanical digger tore a hole in the ground at the town cemetery and workers buried 15 people in plain plywood coffins. Twenty coffin makers were working round the clock. The municipal health officer, Dr Juanita Llacuna, said the dead must be buried immediately to prevent disease because they already were decomposing in the heat and humidity on Camiguin island. Lingling battered the Philippines on Thursday drenching the sprawling archipelago for a second day and sinking a cargo ship. Nineteen Filipino crewmen on the cargo ship went missing in stormy seas off northwestern Philippines, but no survivors have been found and poor weather has hampered rescue efforts. ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 10, 2001 Saturday Stench of death raises epidemic fears in storm-hit Philippines SECTION: International News LENGTH: 666 words DATELINE: CAMIGUIN, Philippines, Nov 10 Philippine authorities have halted their search for survivors and are frantically burying bodies in a bid to prevent an epidemic of disease after tropical storm Lingling left at least 200 people dead, officials said Saturday. Pedro Romualdo, the governor of this southern island, said there was a "very strong stench" in the area that was hit prompting emergency workers to make an extra effort to recover bodies. He said officials were focusing on recovery of the dead and not search and rescue, adding there was little prospect of finding any more survivors. "I hope the relatives will understand. Probably, the missing are buried so while we are not leaving any stone unturned to satisfy the relatives, we cannot go on digging and digging. "We are now watching for epidemics and illnesses of children because that is the usual aftermath," Romualdo said as he appealed for more medical supplies to be sent to Camiguin. The storm, which hit the central and southern Philippines this week, killed 201 people with 137 still listed as missing and feared dead. Camiguin island bore the brunt of the storm. Some 122 people have been confirmed dead while another 119 are still missing at the popular tourist destination. Fast-moving flashfloods and landslides, including boulders and logs, swept down on several towns during the storm late at night, catching villagers by surprise. Relief workers, soldiers and volunteers have dug through the mud with shovels, picks and even their bare hands in a bid to find survivors and recover more of the dead. The large numbers of corpses have forced authorities to resort to burying them in mass gaves in crude, plywood coffins. But despite the recoveries, relief workers said the odor of decomposing bodies was still strong indicating that more remained buried. In Mahinog town, one of the worst-hit areas, villager Benito Ucat searched through the debris for the remains of his wife and two children. Ucat said the flashflood struck his home and washed him a kilometer (0.62 miles) out to sea but he managed to swim back where he found the body of one child. But he had little hope of finding the others alive. "I believe they are dead. It is a deep sorrow in my heart," he said. Relief workers in Mahinog said they were digging whenever they smelled a rotting corpse, sometimes finding dead animals and other times dead people. In Manila, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said the US government had pledged 100,000 dollars in food aid to the storm victims and was loaning a C-130 cargo plane for relief efforts. Disaster-monitoring official Felicisimo Gomez said that fears of epidemics were growing because water pipes in parts of the island had been washed out by the flashfloods. The island's sole fire engine was being used to ferry water supplies to affected areas, but medical teams have so far found cases of diarrhoea only in the evacuation centers. Relief officials have managed to land some heavy equipment on the island to speed up the clearing of blocked roads and to repair storm damage. Gomez said electrical power had largely been restored and most floods had receded in Camiguin. The airport, whose runway was closed by mud, has been partially cleared allowing planes and helicopters to fly in relief supplies, Gomez added. Arroyo reiterated her plan to fly to Camiguin on Sunday to assess the damage and deliver relief goods and funds. Typhoons and storms usually hit the northern Philippines and bypass the central and southern islands. More than 188,500 people fled their homes in the southern and central islands due to the floods and mudslides caused by Lingling, while damage to infrastructure, crops and private property has been initially estimated at 512.5 million pesos (9.86 million dollars.) Lingling finally left the Philippines on Friday and on Saturday was northwest of the western Philippine island of Palawan, moving northwest at 13 kilometers (8.1 miles) per hour. ---- Associated Press International November 11, 2001 Sunday With Typhoon Lingling on its way, Vietnam starts evacuating elderly, children SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 353 words DATELINE: HANOI, Vietnam Bracing for the arrival of deadly typhoon Lingling from the Philippines, Vietnam has begun evacuations of the elderly and children from the most vulnerable areas along its central coastline, officials said Sunday. The typhoon, which left a swath of destruction in the Philippines, is expected to make landfall by Monday afternoon between Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh provinces, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of Hanoi, said an official from the National Center for Hydro Meteorology on condition of anonymity. Packing winds up to 133 kilometers (83 miles) per hour, the typhoon, now 300 kilometers (186 miles) off Vietnam's central coast, is expected to weaken to a severe tropical storm with winds of 117 kilometers (73 miles) per hour when it hits the central coastal provinces, the meteorology official said. The typhoon is moving inland at 10-15 kilometers (6-9 miles) an hour, she said. Over the last week, Lingling pummeled central and southern Philippine provinces, killing 171 people and leaving 118 others missing. Vietnam's relief officials have been evacuating the elderly and children from homes in low-lying areas along rivers and near the coast to shelters since Friday, said an official from Danang's floods and storms control department. The military and police have been placed on 24-hour high alert, he said. On Friday, the government banned all fishing boats from sailing and signaled offshore boats to return to land, the official said. The typhoon is expected to bring heavy rains to seven central provinces over a stretch of 600 kilometers (373 miles) from Quang Tri to Phu Yen provinces, home to nearly six million people. Last month, floods triggered by storms, lightening, and whirlwinds killed 53 people in central Vietnam. In the south, seasonal flooding in the Mekong Delta has killed 366 people, including 286 children. Central Vietnam was hit by the worst flooding in a century in late 1999, killing more than 700 people. Vietnam's long coastline makes it particularly vulnerable to the annual bout of natural disasters, including typhoons and flooding. ---- United Press International November 11, 2001, Sunday Deadly typhoon headed toward Vietnam LENGTH: 441 words DATELINE: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, Nov. 11 Typhoon Lingling headed for Vietnam's central coast on Sunday having left hundreds of dead in the Philippines and many missing. Lingling pounded the Philippines last week with strong winds and torrential rain causing severe mudslides and flooding. Officials said it left 148 dead and more than 170 missing as it tore through several islands in the archipelago. The online version of the Philippine Star, a Manila daily newspaper, quoted disaster officials as saying the death had risen to 201 with at least 137 missing and feared dead. Provincial Disaster Coordinating Center chief Felicimo Gomez, according to the Star, said Camiguin had the most casualties with 122 dead and 119 missing. "There is a very strong stench in the area that was hit so we are making an effort to recover bodies," Gomez said. He added that officials are attempting to recover the dead and stop search and rescue efforts because "there is probably no more hope" for survivors. The Hong Kong Observatory, the territory's official weather forecaster, said Lingling's winds on Sunday afternoon were over 100 mph. "At 4 P.M., Lingling was centered about 275 miles southeast of Danang. It is forecast to move west at over 7.5 mph towards Vietnam," according to an observatory statement. Children and elderly people were evacuated from central coastal areas on Sunday as Vietnam readied for the typhoon's force to hit. The U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported the typhoon was about 150 nautical miles east of Vietnam and was headed westward between 6-9 mph. It said the maximum significant wave height was 24 feet and gusts could reach 130 mph. Local reports said huge waves were expected in the Gulf of Tonkin. Since Friday the Vietnamese government has banned all fishing vessels from setting sail and called all boats at sea to head for any port. Typhoon Lingling is forecast to dump rain on central provinces over almost a 400-mile area. This is the first typhoon to strike the center of the country this year. But like the Philippines, Vietnam lies in the path of tropical storms and typhoons heading across the South China Sea and is often plagued by severe flooding. As Lingling cruised across the South China Sea, workers in the Philippines were still trying to rescue people buried under piles of mud. Many were trapped under collapsed houses. Officials in the Philippines said that Lingling had caused damage in 12 provinces and had inflicted a heavy blow on the country's infrastructure. As the typhoon season nears its end, this was the 14th severe storm to batter the string of islands this year. Content: 03007000 17003000 ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 11, 2001 Sunday Tropical storm Lingling heading towards central Vietnam SECTION: International News LENGTH: 117 words DATELINE: HANOI, Nov 11 Tropical storm Lingling, which left 201 people dead and 118 missing in the Philippines, is expected to strike central Vietnam Monday, meteorologists said. Lingling was moving at 10 to 20 kilometres (six to 12 miles) an hour and was situated 300 kilometres from the coastal city of Da Nang, packing windspeeds of up to 133 kilometres an hour, they said. Disaster relief officials asked local authorities to take measures to protect residents, who were asked to pay attention to broadcasts regarding Lingling's progress. Lingling blew out of the Philippines on Friday after carving a swathe of destruction in southern and central provinces and leaving 201 people dead and 118 still missing. ---- November 11, 2001, Sunday, BC cycle With Typhoon Lingling on its way, Vietnam evacuates elderly, children BYLINE: By TINI TRAN, Associated Press Writer SECTION: International News LENGTH: 493 words DATELINE: HANOI, Vietnam Vietnam evacuated children and the elderly from parts of its central coast on Sunday as the country braced for the arrival of deadly Typhoon Lingling from the Philippines. The storm, which left 171 confirmed dead and 118 missing in the Philippines, was expected to make landfall by Monday afternoon between Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh provinces, the National Center for Hydro Meteorology said. The area is about 620 miles south of Hanoi. Local forecasters said the typhoon had winds of up to 83 mph, but the U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center estimated them higher, at about 132 mph. The storm was centered about 185 miles off the coast. Vietnam's relief officials have been taking the elderly and children from homes in low-lying areas near rivers and coasts and putting them in shelters since Friday, said an official from Danang's flood control department who spoke on condition of anonymity. The military and police have been placed on 24-hour high alert, he said. On Friday, the government barred all fishing boats from sailing and signaled offshore boats to return to land, the official said. The typhoon is expected to bring heavy rains to seven central provinces over a stretch of 373 miles from Quang Tri to Phu Yen provinces, home to nearly 6 million people. In the Philippines, the death toll from Lingling continued to rise as workers dug bodies out of thick mud and from under crumpled houses on the hard-hit island of Camiguin. In an open-pit copper mine in central Cebu province, crews recovered the bodies of eight of 14 miners buried alive in a landslide at the height of the storm. Lemuel Lagat of the Office of Civil Defense in Camiguin said there was little hope of finding further landslide victims alive. "The only thing that can turn up those trapped alive is a miracle," he said. The Philippines' president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, attended a memorial Mass for victims in the town of Mahinog, where 104 residents died. She also visited a camp of evacuated residents, where she handed out bags of rice and checks to help villagers with burial costs. A bit of good news came Sunday from the Coast Guard, which said a freighter had rescued 19 Filipino crewmen reported missing after Lingling sank their cargo ship on Friday. Lt. Commander Felipe Macababad said the men survived the storm in a lifeboat. Disaster officials said Lingling destroyed 800 houses and did about $10 million in damage to infrastructure and farms in 12 Philippine provinces. It was the 14th major storm to hit the Philippines this year. Vietnam, too, is especially vulnerable to violent tropical storms and flooding because of its long coastline. Last month, heavy rain and floods killed 53 people in central Vietnam. In the south, seasonal flooding in the Mekong Delta has killed 366 people, including 286 children. In late 1999, the worst flooding in a century hit Central Vietnam, killing more than 700 people. ---- Associated Press International November 11, 2001 Sunday President Arroyo visits scene of devastation and death left by storm BYLINE: JIM GOMEZ; Associated Press Writer SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 490 words DATELINE: MANILA, Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Sunday visited a southern resort island ravaged by a tropical storm that killed 171 people and left 118 others missing in the Philippines. The death toll continued to rise with bodies dug out of thick mud and from under toppled trees, boulders and crumpled houses in the hard-hit island of Camiguin and nearby provinces, officials said. In an open-pit copper mine in central Cebu province, the bodies of eight of 14 miners buried alive in a landslide at the height of tropical storm Lingling were recovered Saturday. Officials were losing hope of finding survivors among the missing, including about 104 people on Camiguin, where entire villages were wiped out. "Survivors? I doubt it, it's all just mud here now," said Lemuel Lagat of the Office of Civil Defense in Camiguin. "The only thing that can turn up those trapped alive is a miracle." Lingling intensified into a typhoon as it exited the Philippines and was blowing over the South China Sea toward Vietnam with winds of up to 133 kilometers (83 miles) per hour Sunday, weather forecasters said. Bracing for Lingling's arrival, Vietnam has begun evacuating the elderly and children from vulnerable areas along its central coastline and placed the military and police on 24-hour alert. Improving weather in the Philippines has allowed workers to hasten the search for the dead and for villagers to start rebuilding, officials said. Arroyo flew by helicopter to Camiguin for a memorial Mass for victims in Mahinog town, where 104 residents died at the height of the storm's fury. She also visited an evacuation camp and handed out bags of rice and checks to help villagers with burial costs. Her convoy stopped in Mahinog's Hubangon village, passing a group of men on a roadside carrying the newly found body of a women in a bag. Arroyo rolled down the window of her van to watch the poignant scene. Amid the latest disaster to hit her administration, some good news came Sunday from the Coast Guard, which said 19 Filipino crewmen previously reported as missing when a cargo ship sank Friday off the northwest coast during Lingling have been rescued. Lt. Commander Felipe Macababad said the men drifted at sea aboard a lifeboat until they were spotted by a passing cargo ship. Lingling's damage came from heavy rainfall - accompanied by what residents described as a thunderous tornado over water - that set off flash floods. A wall of mud, carrying boulders and trees, engulfed lowland and riverside villages in Camiguin, about 710 kilometers (440 miles) southeast of Manila, officials said. The 14th weather disturbance to hit the Philippines this year affected 960,000 people, destroyed 800 houses and damaged about 500 million pesos (dlrs 10 million) worth of infrastructure and farms in 12 central and southern provinces, disaster officials said. Lingling is a common Chinese pet name for young girls. ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 11, 2001 Sunday Arroyo delivers relief goods in storm-hit Philippines island SECTION: International News LENGTH: 622 words DATELINE: CAMIGUIN, Philippines, Nov 11 President Gloria Arroyo arrived in this storm-ravaged southern Philippine island Sunday, bringing relief goods for shell-shocked residents struggling to recover from a storm that left more than 300 people dead or missing. Arroyo's visit helped soothe emotions as survivors dug mass graves to bury the dead and rescue workers continued to search under tonnes of rubble left by rampaging floods that virtually wiped out one of the island's five towns, officials said. Storm Lingling, which hit the central and southern Philippines, killed 201 people leaving 118 still missing and feared dead. Camiguin, once a popular tourist destination with white sand beaches and rugged, volcanic terrain, bore the brunt of Lingling's fury. Of the total deaths, 122 were from the island, located off the main southern island of Mindanao. The fast-moving floods transformed the island of 60,000 people into a wasteland of mud and silt. Electricity and communications have now been partially restored, but potable water was running low with the entire island's pipelines overwhelmed by dirt. Arroyo led officials in comforting bereaved relatives at a mass in the town of Mahinog, where a municipal gymnasium has been transformed into a morgue where relatives can identify bodies. She also personally handed out relief goods, including medicines and food to a contingent of local officials including Camiguin Governor Pedro Romualdo. The first batch of supplies from the US government was airlifted to nearby Cagayn de Oro city, and Arroyo said more deliveries were expected in the coming days. Arroyo turned over a check worth six million pesos (116,000 US dollars) to help the provincial government get back on its feet after Lingling, the worst cyclone to have hit the country this year. Officials said efforts were now focused on burying the dead and helping survivors cope with the tragedy, with those missing already considered dead. "We thank the Lord that everything now seems to be under control. We are thankful the president is here because her visit lifted the morale of the people of Camiguin," Camiguin congressman Jurdin Romualdo said. Romualdo appealed for more relief assistance, with medicine, food and drinking water on top of the list to avert a break out of disease. "Right now we need water. Three of our towns still do not have water, although electricity, power and communications have been restored," Romualdo said. Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said temporary houses were being built to enable families to leave school buildings where they had sought shelter and for children to resume studies. Recovery operations are continuing but officials have accepted that "no more survivors will be found." "The stench of rotting corpses is prevalent in Mahinog because many people were buried under the mud," Soliman said. It would take at least four weeks for the local government to bring back a "semi-normal state of life" in Camiguin, she added. Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit said: "There is always a fear of epidemic after disaster likes this." Authorities should make sure that drinking water is safe, Dayrit said, adding that the limited supply was being chlorinated as a precautionary measure. "We will try to get life as normal as possible," he added, noting that trauma experts were helping assess the psychological state of residents. Meanwhile, the coast guard said 19 Filipino crewmen of a cargo vessel that sank at the height of Lingling's fury on Thursday had been recovered alive by a passing ferry after several days at sea. The men were aboard the 5,800-ton Ho Feng 8 and en route to Hong Kong from Indonesia when big waves caused the vessel to sink. ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 11, 2001 Sunday 19 missing Filipino crewmen rescued SECTION: International News LENGTH: 166 words DATELINE: MANILA, Nov 11 Nineteen Filipino crewmen of a cargo vessel which sank at the height of tropical storm Lingling's fury last week have been found alive by a passing ferry, the coast guard said Sunday. The men were aboard the 5,800-ton Ho Feng 8 and en route to Hong Kong from Indonesia when big waves stirred by the storm caused the vessel to sink off the northern Philippine province of Pangasinan on Thursday. Rescue services had difficulty reaching the area, but the nineteen were found alive near Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern province of Bataan. "The coast guard center received a report this morning that a passing ferry rescued the 19 Filipino crew who have been missing since November 8. They were found near Scarborough Shoal," coast guard spokesman Lieutenant Armand Balilo said over RMN radio in Manila. Lingling blew out of the Philippines on Friday after carving a swathe of destruction in southern and central provinces and leaving 201 people dead and 118 still missing. ---- XINHUA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE November 11, 2001, Sunday Storm Death Toll in Central Philippines Rises to 201 SECTION: WORLD NEWS; POLITICAL LENGTH: 247 words DATELINE: MANILA, November 11 The death toll from the tropical storm "Lingling" has risen to 201 with at least 137 missing and feared dead, the Philippine Star reported Sunday. Camiguin province has the most casualties with 122 dead and 119 missing. Fears of an epidemic have led Camiguin officials to focus on burying bodies -- not on finding survivors -- to prevent an outbreak of disease. Damage to infrastructure, crops and private property was estimated to have reached at least 362 million pesos (7 million U. S. dollars), a local official said. Recovery operations have been speeded up because the rains had finally ceased. But fears of epidemics are growing because water pipes in some parts of the island had been washed out by the flash floods, the official added. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is set to arrive the province Sunday morning and to attend Mass at a local church before inspecting Mahinog, the worst hit town of the province. Arroyo has ordered the delivery of some 400 sacks of rice and the release of an initial 2 million pesos (38,462 U.S. dollars) in calamity funds to help operations which have been hampered over the past three days because of continuing rain. Storm "Lingling" hit Camiguin on Tuesday and battered the Visayas and Palawan of the central Philippines until it left on Friday when it intensified into a typhoon with sustained winds of 120 kph and gusts of up to 150 kph, gaining strength over the open waters of the South China Sea. ---- United Press International November 11, 2001, Sunday Deadly typhoon heads toward Vietnam LENGTH: 48 words DATELINE: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, Nov. 11 Typhoon Lingling headed for Vietnam's central coast on Sunday, leaving hundreds dead in the Philippines and many missing. The Philippine Star quoted disaster officials as saying the death toll had risen to 201 with at least 137 missing and feared dead. Content: 03007000 17003000 ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 12, 2001 Monday Tropical storm Lingling claims first victim in central Vietnam SECTION: International News LENGTH: 168 words DATELINE: HANOI, Nov 12 Tropical storm Lingling, which left more than 300 people dead or missing in the Philippines, hit central Vietnam's coast Monday and claimed a victim, disaster relief officials said. Lingling, packing winds of 120 kilometres (75 miles) an hour, hit Phu Yen province around 4:00 am (2100 GMT Sunday) when a farmer was killed by a falling tree, the officials said. Communications were disrupted in several provinces. By mid morning, Lingling had brought only light rain and there were no reports of flooding, officials said, adding police and other disaster relief authorities were on alert as the eye of the storm was still more than 100 kilometres (60 miles) away. Officials have asked local authorities to take measures to protect residents, who were asked to pay attention to broadcasts regarding Lingling's progress. Lingling blew out of the Philippines on Friday after carving a swathe of destruction in southern and central provinces and leaving 201 people dead and 118 still missing. ---- Associated Press International November 12, 2001 Monday Downing power lines, houses, Typhoon Lingling kills 18 in Vietnam so far BYLINE: RICHARD VOGEL; Associated Press Writer SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 549 words DATELINE: DANANG, Vietnam Typhoon Lingling slammed into the central coast of Vietnam early Monday, unleashing heavy rains and strong winds that left 18 people dead and more than 70 injured. Moving west from the Philippines, where the storm killed 184 people, the typhoon made landfall between Phu Yen and Binh Dinh provinces, packing winds of up to 133 kilometers (83 miles) per hour, said Le Thanh Hai with the National Center for Hydro Meteorology in Hanoi. Thirteen people have died in Phu Yen province, while Binh Dinh reported two deaths and Quang Ngai had three people killed, said provincial officials. Seventy-six others were injured in the three provinces. Torrential rains and gusting winds tore off the roofs of hundreds of homes and cut power and phone lines throughout the area, national broadcaster Vietnam Television reported. National train service has been disrupted in some areas. "Strong winds have blown away a lot of metal roofs in Phu Yen town, and because all telecommunications have been disconnected, we don't know how serious the damage is elsewhere," said Nguyen Tai, a local government official in Phu Yen province. The typhoon landed in the northern part of the province, destroying or damaging more than 3,000 homes, he said. Electricity and phone lines throughout the province have been cut off since Sunday night. Nearly 200 fishing boats in the coastal province were either sunk or damaged, while 20,000 hectares of the province's crops - more than 40 percent - sustained some damage, he said. An official in Binh Dinh province said more than 1,000 homes have collapsed there, while 100 homes and 12 schools in neighboring Quang Ngai province were destroyed or damaged. Continuing to weaken as it moves westward at 15 kilometers (9 miles) per hour, the typhoon has been downgraded to a severe tropical depression with wind speeds up to 60 kilometers (37 miles) per hour, said meteorologist Hai. Lingling passed through the coastal areas and was moving into the Central Highlands, he said, adding that the storm was expected to gradually weaken and hit northern Cambodia and southern Laos by late afternoon. Disaster officials, the military and the police have begun to mobilize rescue operations. Since Friday, Vietnam's relief officials have been evacuating the elderly and children from homes in low-lying areas near rivers and coasts and putting them in shelters. On Friday, the government barred all fishing boats from sailing and signaled offshore boats to return to land, the official said. The typhoon's impact was spread over the seven central provinces from Quang Tri to Phu Yen provinces, home to nearly 6 million people. In the Philippines, disaster officials said Lingling also injured 147 while 106 are still missing. The storm destroyed 1,100 houses and caused an estimated dlrs 20 million in damage to infrastructure and farms in 12 provinces. It was the 14th major storm to hit the Philippines this year. Lingling is a common Chinese pet name for young girls. Vietnam is also vulnerable to violent tropical storms and flooding because of its long coastline. Last month, heavy rain and floods killed 53 people in central Vietnam. In late 1999, the worst flooding in a century hit Central Vietnam, killing more than 700 people. ---- XINHUA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE November 12, 2001, Monday Feature: For Filipinos Typhoon Lingling Unforgettable SECTION: WORLD NEWS; OTHERS LENGTH: 743 words DATELINE: MANILA, November 12 Over 200 Filipino lives have been confirmed lost when typhoon internationally coded Lingling swept through the central and southern Philippines last week, some 230 others still missing, whom are feared already dead. Most people were killed on the island of Camiguin in the south, a popular tourist resort dubbed "Paradise Island" for its white beaches, waterfalls and rustic lifestyle. Many victims there were drowned, or killed by falling trees and flying debris. About 5,000 of the 74,000 residents there were evacuated from the island. Reports said 2,000 families have been forced to leave their homes and take shelter in schools and government buildings. More than 35,300 people fled their homes in the central and southern islands in the country due to the floods and mudslides caused by Lingling, the Philippine civil defense office said, adding that damage to infrastructure, crops and private property were estimated at 362 million pesos (nearly 7 million U.S. dollars) . The Department of Agriculture also said it received initial reports saying that some 21,800 tons of un-milled rice, which is extremely significant to the flood-affected population there, were also spoiled by flash floods. The well-known tourist resorts on Camiguin island, however, escaped serious damage from the storm, local officials said. Among the up to 20 major storms to hit the Philippines, Lingling is the 14th since January, but was unseasonably late. Few typhoons visited the Philippines later than October, weather experts said, adding that even fewer of them touched the southern Visayas and northern Mindanao in the south. Storms as destructive as "Lingling" have never been expected on Camiguin before. Camiguin normally a lucky island during the typhoon seasons every year, because most storms track to the north. A four-hour pre-dawn deluge early Tuesday last week, unfortunately, gave the local residents a big surprise -- but far from being nice. The storm, packing maximum winds of 90 kilometers per hour, battered the central and southern islands, moving towards west at 11 kilometers an hour across the central islands, and reached the South China Sea early Saturday. The storm is not particularly powerful, but the rainfall it brought about triggered deadly flash floods, officials here said. The noise was so deafening that the local residents compared it to "a hundred trucks and a hundred boats arriving at the same time." At the devastated town of Mahinog on Camiguin island, a huge hole was dug in the town cemetery, where workers were burying the dead in plain plywood coffins. As bodies piled up, the town soon ran out of embalming fluid to preserve them, and the local coffin makers had to labor around the clock. Relief workers said the odor of decomposing bodies was still strong, indicating that more bodies were still buried in addition to those recovered. Urgent requests went out for chain saws to cut through trees and other debris, and people with shovels have been called on to help dig through tons of mud in search of the some 230 missing people. Rescue teams fought their way through the mess but heavy rains hampered their efforts. Lingling storm was the biggest calamity hitting Camiguin since 1951, when Hibok-Hibok volcano erupted, and resulted in a fatality of 500. Hardly would they find more survivors, the rescuers now focused to bury bodies in prevention of disease running rampant after the storm. Workers in Mahinog, also scurried to embalm dozens of corpses to avoid an outbreak of disease. Flooding hit other parts of the Philippines as the storm moved northwest. Two girls were killed in Toledo City in central province of Cebu; Eight were dead and about 40,000 were evacuated in Negros Occidental province in the south, where the officials declared a state of calamity. The storm knocked out electricity and flooded many parts of central provinces of Leyte, Samar and Bacolod. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has released a total of 8 million pesos (about 155,000 U.S. dollars) for the typhoon-affected population. She said the U.S. government had pledged 100,000 dollars in food aid, and was loaning a C-130 cargo plane for relief efforts. Philippine disaster officials said that the final death toll could be 359, with at least 130 bodies so far recovered in four provinces in the southern and central parts of the country. ---- November 12, 2001, Monday, BC cycle Typhoon Lingling kills 18 in Vietnam, injures dozens and destroys more than 1,000 homes BYLINE: By TINI TRAN, Associated Press Writer SECTION: International News LENGTH: 488 words DATELINE: HANOI, Vietnam Typhoon Lingling roared ashore in central Vietnam on Monday, killing at least 18 people, knocking out power and destroying hundreds of homes. The storm, which left 171 confirmed dead and another 118 missing in the Philippines, brought 83 mph gusts when it hit Vietnam between Phu Yen and Binh Dinh provinces, the National Center for Hydro Meteorology said. Provincial officials reported 13 deaths in Phu Yen, two in Binh Dinh and three in Quang Ngai province. Seventy-six others were injured in the three provinces. More than 100 houses were destroyed in Phu Yen province and electricity had been cut off since Sunday night, said Nguyen Tai, a local government official. Binh Dinh officials said nearly 900 homes had collapsed there, while 100 homes in neighboring Quang Ngai were destroyed. National train service was disrupted in some areas. The typhoon lost strength after hitting land and was downgraded to a severe tropical storm. It continued to move westward at 9 mph with winds of 37 mph, said meteorologist Le Thanh Hai. "Lingling has passed through the coastal areas and is moving into the Central Highlands right now," he said. He said the storm was expected to gradually weaken and hit northern Cambodia and southern Laos by late Monday afternoon. The typhoon's impact was spread over the seven central Vietnamese provinces from Quang Tri to Phu Yen, home to nearly 6 million people. Vietnamese rescue officials, the military and police were put on high alert over the weekend. Relief officials evacuated children and the elderly from homes in low-lying areas near the coast and put them in shelters. On Friday, the government barred all fishing boats from sailing and signaled offshore boats to return to land. In the Philippines, disaster officials said Lingling destroyed 800 houses and caused an estimated $10 million in damage to infrastructure and farms in 12 provinces. It was the 14th major storm to hit the Philippines this year. Crews recovered the bodies of eight of 14 miners buried alive in a landslide at an open-pit copper mine in the Philippines' central Cebu province. The Philippines' president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, attended a memorial Mass for victims in the town of Mahinog, where 104 residents died. She also visited a camp of evacuated residents, where she handed out bags of rice and checks to help villagers with burial costs. Also Sunday, the Philippines Coast Guard said a freighter had rescued 19 Filipino crewmen reported missing after Lingling sank their cargo ship on Friday. The men survived the storm in a lifeboat, said Lt. Commander Felipe Macababad. In Vietnam, heavy rain and floods last month killed 53 people in the central provinces. In the south, seasonal flooding in the Mekong Delta has killed 366 people, including 286 children. In late 1999, the worst flooding in a century hit Central Vietnam, killing more than 700 people. ---- United Press International November 12, 2001, Monday Deadly typhoon hits Vietnam LENGTH: 274 words DATELINE: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, Nov. 12 Typhoon Lingling hit central Vietnam on Monday causing hundreds of houses to collapse and killing at least 10 people before moving inland and losing force. Local media said at least 10 people had died as the typhoon, the strongest to batter Vietnam in 15 years, unleashed winds up to 75 miles per hour, tore trees from the ground and destroyed hundreds of homes. Meteorologists said the typhoon was downgraded to a tropical low pressure system after hitting Vietnam's coastline overnight and moving inland. The typhoon's rains and severe winds affected Vietnam's seven central provinces. As the typhoon bore down on Vietnam, police and rescue officials were put on alert. Children and elderly residents were evacuated from low-lying areas Sunday. Lingling pounded the Philippines last week with strong winds and torrential rain causing severe mudslides and flooding. Officials said more than 200 people were killed as Lingling tore across several islands in the archipelago. Officials said the death toll in the Philippines continues to rise as bodies are recovered under collapsed houses and landslides on the island of Camiguin, one of the worst hit areas, and neighboring provinces. Officials in the Philippines said Lingling had caused damage in 12 provinces and had inflicted a heavy blow on the country's infrastructure. It was the 14th severe storm this year to batter the islands. Lingling was forecast to move west toward Laos and Cambodia, continuing to dump rain on the region and causing fears of flooding. It is the first typhoon to strike the center of the country this year. Content: 03007000 17003000 17005000 ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 12, 2001 Monday Weakened Tropical Storm Lindling kills three in Vietnam SECTION: International News LENGTH: 112 words DATELINE: HANOI, Nov 12 Tropical storm Lingling, which left more than 300 people dead or missing in the Philippines, killed three people as it made landfall in central Vietnam early Monday, disaster relief officials said. Winds of 120 kilometres (75 miles) an hour destroyed some homes and downed power and telephone lines. But the feared downpours and flash flooding failed to materialize as the storm weakened sharply before making landfall, the weather centre said. The national disaster relief office had put local authorities on full alert after Lingling carved a swathe of destruction through the central and southern Philippines last week leaving 201 dead and 118 missing. ---- Morning Star November 12, 2001 Vietnamese get ready for typhoon; SECTION: Pg. 3 LENGTH: 293 words THE Vietnamese people were preparing yesterday for Typhoon Lingling, which is expected to bring torrential rains and winds gusting up to hurricane force. The typhoon had earlier killed hundreds of people in the Philippines. Voice of Vietnam radio said that winds at the centre of the typhoon approaching from the South China Sea were gusting higher than force 12 on the Beaufort Scale. This is more than 83 miles per hour - a speed capable of causing extreme damage and sinking large ships. The national weather centre said that the centre of the typhoon was still 186 miles east of the central province of Binh Dinh, but it had already brought scattered rain to five central provinces from Thua Thien Hue to Phu Yen. The Vietnam government has urged authorities in 13 central coastal provinces stretching about 600 miles from Nghe An to Binh Thuan to remain on a high state of alert. They have been told to take steps to protect people from strong winds, flash floods and landslides. Fishing boats have been ordered not to sail and those at sea have been instructed to return to port. The radio station said that local authorities planned to evacuate people to safe places, especially those living on the coast or at places vulnerable to river-bank erosion or landslides. Last month, a tropical low-pressure system brought torrential rains and floods to eight central provinces, killing at least 44 people. Typhoon Lingling left a trail of death and destruction in the Philippines, with at least 270 people believed killed, including 226 who drowned or were buried under piles of mud. Flash floods and landslides in the central region of Vietnam in late October and November 1999 killed more than 730 people. ---- Associated Press International November 13, 2001 Tuesday central Vietnam SECTION: INTERNATIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 310 words DATELINE: HANOI, Vietnam Typhoon Lingling killed 20 people and injured 83 others as it rampaged through central Vietnam, disaster officials said Tuesday. The typhoon destroyed or damaged 15,000 homes in the seven central provinces, causing an estimated 380 billion dong (dlrs 25 million) in damage, said the Floods and Storm Control Department for Central Vietnam on its website. A disaster official in Phu Yen province, where the typhoon hit land Monday, said 15 people were killed and another 43 injured in the province. Nearly 10,000 homes were destroyed or damaged. River levels in the province have receded, she said. A government delegation led by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Huy Ngo toured the province Tuesday to inspect the damage and direct relief operations, she said. Meanwhile two people were killed in Binh Dinh province, while three were killed in neighboring Quang Ngai province. A provincial Red Cross official said local government has provided the victims' families with 1 million dong (dlrs 66) each, while those who lost homes were given 1 million dong (dlrs 66). A meteorologist in Hanoi said Lingling has moved into Cambodia and Laos and that no rains were reported in central Vietnam Tuesday. Typhoon Lingling had killed 184 people in the Philippines last week during its deadly trek. Last month, 53 people were killed by floods, lightening and whirlwinds in central Vietnam where in late 1999, the worst flooding in a century killed more than 700 people. In the south, the seasonal floods have killed 366 people including 286 children in the Mekong Delta, the country's rice bowl, a disaster official in Ho Chi Minh City said. The floods have caused an estimated 1.525 trillion dong (dlrs 101 million) in damage, she said. Vietnam's central and southern parts are hit by typhoons or floods almost every year. ---- November 13, 2001, Tuesday, BC cycle Typhoon death toll climbs to 20 in central Vietnam SECTION: International News LENGTH: 267 words DATELINE: HANOI, Vietnam Typhoon Lingling killed 20 people and injured 83 others as it rampaged through central Vietnam, disaster officials said Tuesday. The typhoon destroyed or damaged 15,000 homes in the seven central provinces, causing an estimated $25 million in damage, the water department for Central Vietnam said on its website. Typhoon Lingling had killed 184 people and left about 100 missing in the Philippines last week during its deadly trek. Disaster officials in Vietnam's Phu Yen province, where the typhoon hit land Monday, said 15 people were killed and another 43 injured in the province. Nearly 10,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, although river levels have receded. Two people were killed in Binh Dinh province, while three were killed in neighboring Quang Ngai province. A provincial Red Cross official said local government has provided the victims' families with $66 each and those who lost homes were given an equal amount. A meteorologist in Hanoi said Lingling has moved into Cambodia and Laos and that no rains were reported in central Vietnam Tuesday. Last month, 53 people were killed by floods, lightening and whirlwinds in central Vietnam where in late 1999, the worst flooding in a century killed more than 700 people. In the south, the seasonal floods have killed 366 people including 286 children in the Mekong Delta, the country's rice bowl, a disaster official in Ho Chi Minh City said. The floods have caused an estimated $101 million in damage, she said. Vietnam's central and southern parts are hit by typhoons or floods almost every year. ---- The Vancouver Province (British Columbia) November 13, 2001 Tuesday Final Edition 11 dead as Lingling slams into Vietnam SOURCE: Associated Press SECTION: News; Pg. A19 LENGTH: 300 words DATELINE: HANOI HANOI -- Typhoon Lingling roared ashore in central Vietnam yesterday, killing 11 people, knocking out power and destroying hundreds of homes. The storm, which left 171 confirmed dead and another 118 missing in the Philippines, brought 135 km/h gusts when it hit Vietnam between Phu Yen and Binh Dinh provinces, the National Centre for Hydro Meteorology said. Nine people died in Phu Yen province, while Binh Dinh and Quang Ngai provinces reported one person killed each. Forty-one others were injured in the three provinces. More than 100 houses were destroyed and electricity had been cut off since Sunday night. Binh Dinh officials said nearly 900 homes had collapsed there, while 100 homes in neighbouring Quang Ngai province were destroyed. National train service was disrupted. The typhoon lost strength after hitting land and was downgraded to a severe tropical storm. It continued to move westward at 15 km/h with winds of 60 km/h, said meteorologist Le Thanh Hai. "Lingling is moving into the Central Highlands right now," Hai said. The storm was expected to gradually weaken and hit Cambodia and Laos. Vietnamese rescue officials, the military and police were put on high alert over the weekend. Relief officials evacuated children and the elderly from homes in low-lying areas on the coast. On Friday, the government barred all fishing boats from sailing and signalled offshore boats to return to land. In the Philippines, Lingling destroyed 800 houses and caused an estimated $15 million Cdn in damage to infrastructure and farms in 12 provinces. It was the 14th major storm to hit the Philippines this year. Crews recovered the bodies of eight of 14 miners buried alive in a landslide at an open-pit copper mine in the Philippines' central Cebu province. ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 13, 2001 Tuesday Vietnam storm death toll hits 20 SECTION: International News LENGTH: 200 words DATELINE: HANOI, Nov 13 Tropical storm Lingling killed at least 20 people and wounded another 76 as it cut a swathe of devastation through central Vietnam, disaster relief officials said Tuesday. Some 20,000 homes were partially or totally destroyed in the worst hit province of Phu Yen alone when the storm made landfall early Monday, the officials said. Lingling has lost a great deal of its strength since leaving more than 300 people dead or missing in the Philippines last week. But it still caused widespread damage to infrastructure valued at 16 million dollars in Phu Yen and the neighbouring province of Binh Dinh, the central region's disaster control office told AFP. Preliminary reports had put the death toll at only five but it climbed sharply as news came in from outlying areas. Relief officials said the death toll would have been even higher if the authorities had not mobilized thousands of soldiers and police to evacuate the most vulnerable as the storm approached the Vietnamese coast. The storm was only the second to make landfall in Vietnam this year. In August Typhoon Usagi killed three people on the north-central coast and caused damage estimated at five million dollars. ---- XINHUA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE November 13, 2001, Tuesday Storm Lingling Claims 18 Lives in Vietnam SECTION: WORLD NEWS; OTHERS LENGTH: 170 words DATELINE: HANOI, November 13 Storm Lingling claimed 18 lives in Vietnam's central provinces as of Monday, according to a report of Vietnam's News Agency on Tuesday. The storm, which hit the country's central provinces of Thua Thien-Hue, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Quang Ngai, Quang Nam and central highlands provinces of Dac Lac and Gia Lai early Monday, injured at least 76 people, destroyed 20,000 houses and left thousands of people homeless. Strong winds and heavy rains have sunk 139 fishing boats and damaged 117 others. Almost 600 classrooms have been destroyed along with thousands of hectares (ha) of rice and subsidiary food crops. In addition, 1, 000 ha of shrimp farms have been severely damaged while electricity supply and phone lines in impact provinces have been cut. In the worst-hit province of Phu Yen, the storm killed 13 people, injured 35 others, washed away 804 houses, pulled down and unroofed nearly 2,200 houses, causing an estimated 200 billion Vietnamese dong (VND) (13.3 million U.S. dollars) in losses. ---- XINHUA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE November 14, 2001, Wednesday Storm Death Toll in Vietnam Reaches 20 SECTION: WORLD NEWS; OTHERS LENGTH: 214 words DATELINE: HANOI, November 14 Death toll from Lingling storm, which hit Vietnam's central region last Sunday night, reached 20 as of Tuesday, according to a report of the local daily Vietnam News on Wednesday. Phu Yen province was hardest hit by the storm with a death toll of 15. The storm also killed two people in Binh Dinh province, two in Quang Ngai province and one in Thua Thien Hue province. It injured at least 76 people, knocked down more than 2,600 houses, damaged almost 12,400 others, sank 144 fishing boats, damaged 279 other fishing vessels and submerged tens of thousands of hectares of rice and subsidiary food crops. Total property losses caused by the storm were estimated at 440 billion Vietnamese dong (nearly 30 million U.S. dollars). Lingling storm, which hit central provinces of Thua Thien Hue, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Quang Ngai, Quang Nam and central highlands provinces of Dac Lac and Gia Lai, has weakened and is no longer active. However, due to influence of the storm, heavy rains have been occurring in provinces from Thua Thien Hue to Khanh Hoa with a rainfall measured between 100 and 270 mm. Local hydro-meteorology and weather forecast experts have warned central and central highlands provinces should take precautious measures in anticipation of floods. ---- Agence France Presse -- English November 15, 2001 Thursday Fresh floods leave one missing in Philippine disaster island SECTION: International News LENGTH: 120 words DATELINE: MANILA, Nov 15 Fresh floods left one person missing and caused several hundred others to flee their homes in the southern island of Camiguin, which was devastated by tropical storm Lingling last week, a Philippine official said Thursday. Waist-high floodwaters swept through the provincial capital of Mambajao on Wednesday night after heavy rain, Camiguin governor Pedro Romualdo said on ABS-CBN television. "Three people aboard a motorcycle were hit by the onrushing water," he said. "Two of them were able to escape the danger but one is still missing." He said about 500 other people evacuated to higher ground. Lingling left about 300 people dead or missing last week. The death toll included 139 from Camiguin. ---- Agence France Presse -- English December 7, 2001 Friday More than 120,000 Vietnamese need food aid after Storm Lingling SECTION: International News LENGTH: 111 words DATELINE: HANOI, Dec 7 More than 120,000 people in central Vietnam are still dependent on food aid after Tropical Storm Lingling lashed Phu Yen province last month killing at least 20 people, officials said Friday. A minimum of 500 tonnes of rice will be needed over the next three months to feed the 28,000 households whose crops were destroyed, a provincial official told AFP. The mountain districts of Song Cau, Tuy An and Son Hoa were worst affected by the storm which also damaged nearly 20,000 homes. Lingling cut a swathe of destruction in early November, leaving more than 300 dead or missing in the Philippines before sweeping across the South China Sea to Vietnam.