9 missing as year’s strongest typhoon hit Philippines

9 missing as year’s strongest typhoon hit Philippines

The year’s most powerful typhoon that slammed into the Philippines on Monday triggered landslides and floods and left nine fishermen missing. Typhoon Utor, packing winds of 140kph near its center and gusts of up to 170kph, weakened slightly after hitting the country’s north and is moving slowly west-northwest at 19kph. The coastal town of Casiguran in Aurora province, 343km northeast of the capital Manila, suffered the worst damage. The typhoon, the 12th tropical cyclone this year, is expected to sweep through the northern Philippines provinces of Benguet and Ilocos Sur before exiting towards the South China Sea by Tuesday.