More than 60 people have died and millions have been forced to flee their homes in Asia after Typhoon Mangkhut tore through the Philippines and onto southern China.
The typhoon made landfall in the northern Philippines in the early hours of Saturday, leaving a trail of wreckage as it caused landslides and destroyed properties. At least 38 people were killed in the northern mountainous province of Benguet and there are dozens more still missing including a group of gold miners. Winds of more than 200 kph were recorded.
In southern China, more than 2.4 million people were reportedly relocated from their homes and some 50,000 fishing boats called back to port. In Hong Kong, where the city’s weather authority had issued its highest alert, sustained winds of up to 173 kph were recorded as well as a storm surge of more than 3.3 metres in Victoria Harbour, but there were no reported deaths.
Meanwhile in the US, 15 people have died and the state of North Carolina declared a disaster zone with more than a million people without power as Hurricane Florence weakened to a tropical depression on Sunday.
Hundreds remain trapped and floodwaters are still rising, however, and authorities are warning people to remain aware.
“The worst is still yet to come,” CNN quoted Kevin Arata, spokesman for the city of Fayetteville, North Carolina, as saying in an article published on Sunday.
More than a million people had been ordered to evacuate ahead of the hurricane making landfall on Friday.
