Typhoon leaves 19 dead, many homes roofless in Philippines

A powerful typhoon has left at least 19 people dead in the Philippines, knocked down power and cellphone services in entire provinces and wrought widespread destruction

MANILA, Philippines -- A powerful typhoon left at least 19 people dead, knocked down power and communications in entire provinces and wrought widespread destruction mostly in the central Philippines, officials said Saturday. A governor said her island province has been “leveled to the ground."

Typhoon Rai blew away Friday night into the South China Sea after rampaging through southern and central island provinces, where more than 300,000 people in its path were evacuated to safety in advance in a pre-emptive move officials say may have saved a lot of lives.

At its strongest, Rai packed sustained winds of 195 kilometers (121 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 270 kph (168 mph), one of the most powerful in recent years to hit the disaster-prone Southeast Asian archipelago, which lies between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. The typhoon slammed into the country’s southeastern coast Thursday but the extent of casualties and destruction remained unclear two days after with entire provinces still without power and cellphone connection.

The national police reported at least 19 dead but did not provide other details. The government’s main disaster-response agency reported a lower death toll of 12, mostly villagers hit by falling trees, because it said it had to carefully validate each death.