Daily News Channel
The number of people killed in Taiwan by Typhoon Morakot, a destructive storm that swept through East Asia last week, could triple because hundreds of people are feared trapped under mudslides, the president’s office said Friday. The official toll from the typhoon was 118 but could jump to more than 300, with as many as 200 feared buried under five stories of mud in the badly-hit village of Shiao Lin, presidential spokesman Wang Yuchi said.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Cape Verde on Friday, the final stop on her seven-nation Africa tour in which she emphasized good governance and urged officials to implement reforms. Clinton is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Pedro Maria Neves before returning to the United States. The Obama administration describes the island nation on the western coast as an African success story
A survivor from the typhoon that devastated Taiwan told how she and her grandson were surrounded by rising water in their mountain village. The pair lived in Shao Lin, a village in the south wiped out by Typhoon Morakot which swept over Taiwan last weekend. Authorities said mudslides demolished more than 100 homes and killed a still unknown number of residents
In the foothills of the Central Mountain chain in southern Taiwan, a rescue helicopter lowers itself onto an athletic field in the town of Nei Pu. The helicopter doors open and eight typhoon survivors stumble out with their belongings in plastic bags. It is a scene that plays out all day.
Hundreds of people were stranded on Wednesday in villages dotting Taiwan’s mountainous regions after Typhoon Morakot unleashed its fury over the weekend and caused the worst flooding in a half-century. Morakot dumped 83 inches (2.1 meters) of rain on parts of the island, unleashing the worst flooding there in half a century, according to the U.S.
Typhoon Morakot bore down on Taiwan Friday, packing strong winds and threatening to soak the entire island upon landfall Friday evening or later, depending on the speed of the system, CNN meteorologist Jennifer Delgado said.
Typhoon Morakot moved toward Taiwan Thursday, promising to bring heavy rain and high winds to the island and other areas over the next few days.
The Sri Lankan government should immediately release more than 280,000 displaced Tamil civilians living in detention camps, a leading human rights group said Wednesday.
It was the U.S. government’s version of the ticker in New York’s Times Square, blasting Havana’s main seaside strip with anti-Cuba slogans in 5-foot high crimson letters.
Tuvalu, the fourth smallest nation on the planet, has announced it aims to be totally powered by renewable energy sources by 2020. Located between Hawaii and Australia, the tiny Pacific nation is one of the world’s climate change hotspots and many believe it is already seeing the negative affects of rising sea levels. The highest elevation on the island is just 4.5 meters (14.8 feet), and king tides have become increasingly damaging over the past 10 years, threatening the homes and livelihoods of its 12,000 inhabitants.