Typhoon Goni Triggers Floods, Mudflows in Philippines Killing 16

Officials on Monday said at least 16 people were killed in the Philippines as the strongest typhoon triggered floods, mudflows, cut off power and communication lines.
According to the Office of Civil Defence, over 420,000 people fled their homes in eastern and northern provinces as super typhoon Goni lashed the main island of Luzon over the weekend with catastrophic winds and torrential rains.
The office said the deaths were reported from the hard-hit provinces of Catanduanes and Albay in the eastern region of Bicol.
According to provincial governor Al Francis Bichara, three persons were also reported missing in the town of Guinobatan in Albay, where more than 100 houses were buried by mudflows.
Bichara said the mudflows were from volcanic deposits on the slopes of Mayon Volcano, which were loosened by the heavy rains.
Cesar Binag, a regional police director said in Catanduanes, where Goni first made landfall on Sunday, 90 per cent of infrastructure was reported to have been damaged based on an initial assessment.
The weather bureau said, a weakened Goni was expected to leave the Philippines on Tuesday.
The bureau said it was packing maximum sustained winds of 65 km per hour (km/h) and gusts of up to 80 km/h as it moved westward over the South China Sea.
Goni was the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines since Typhoon Haiyan battered the eastern and central provinces in November 2013, killing more than 6,300 people and displacing more than 4 million. (dpa)