Manila mops up after typhoon
2006-09-29 07:18
Manila - Emergency workers mounted a massive clean-up operation on Friday after the strongest typhoon to pound Manila in a decade left a trail of devastation, at least 48 people dead and millions more without power before heading toward Vietnam.
Typhoon Xangsane ripped off roofs, tore up trees and power lines and sent debris hurtling into the air after piling through at a maximum 130km per hour from before dawn on Thursday.
It was reported on Friday to be barrelling across the South China Sea toward Vietnam.
Financial markets and schools remained closed on Friday in the capital Manila as the huge clean-up operation began across the sprawling city of 12 million people.
Most of the dead had been crushed by falling trees, walls and other debris.
Hundreds of homes were destroyed and 19 key roads and bridges had been made impassable due to damage or continuing floods, the office added.
"The wind was so loud and the rain so heavy that it sounded like bricks falling on the roof," said Daisy Arevalo, a maid in Taguig, one of Manila's poorer suburbs.
"The tin roof on the back of the house was ripped off by the wind and disappeared."
President Gloria Arroyo called an emergency meeting of energy and civil defence officials at her palace to speed up the rehabilitation efforts.
She said the first priority would be "to save lives and make sure enough food, medicine and relief supplies are available."
- AFP