Philippine storm blows away after leaving 22 dead
A storm finally blew away from the main northern Philippine island Tuesday, after leaving at least 22 dead over the weekend and forcing more than 100,000 villagers into emergency shelters and destroying rice fields ready for harvest.
"We saw that there was lot of rain that fell in the mountains. There was a possibility of flash floods so residents were evacuated to safer grounds," said Melchito Castro of the regional Office of Civil Defense.
Koppu blew ashore as a powerful typhoon on Sunday before weakening. It was over the Luzon Strait on Tuesday with winds of 75 kilometers (46 miles) per hour and was expected to weaken further, according to the government's weather bureau.
