Mop up in Hong Kong after Super Typhoon Mangkhut

Palangdan said the area where the bunkhouse was located was “dangerous because there was a big tunnel mined” by a private corporation decades ago, blaming mining for the landslides that hit the town of almost 60,000 people.

Most of Itogon residents work as miners in small scale mining industry while the rest are in farming.

Airports and high-speed railways in Guangdong, too, were shut down, throttling traffic in one of world’s most urbanized and densely populated regions, with 100 million people.

President Rodrigo Duterte appeared at a televised Cabinet meeting following an aerial inspection of the affected areas and pledged funds following an for the recovery.

The paper said the heavy rains brought storm surges of 3 meters (10 feet) around Hong Kong.

PAGASA on Sunday lifted all storm signal warnings in the country after the typhoon exited the Philippines on Saturday. Landslide warnings are in place.

From there the system will continue to move westward and will rain itself out over northern Vietnam, which could lead to some flooding there early next week.

Tropical cyclone Mangkhut is considered the strongest to hit the region this year, packing gale force winds of more than 200 kph (125 mph), equivalent to a maximum Category 5 “intense hurricane” in the Atlantic.

The roof of Martin’s house was damaged but that was nothing compared to the complete destruction of the local gymnasium. We thought the building we were in would collapse. “The wind is so strong”.

“The road access going to other areas are not passable due to landslides, so we can only access the first or second village in every town, but the farthest barangays are not accessible”, she said.

What’s the impact on the Philippines?

Bodies were still being pulled out of mudslides and rubble on the main island of Luzon in the Philippines, which bore the brunt of the super typhoon on the weekend with winds of more than 230 kilometers per hour. Numerous survivors ran short of food, water and medicine nearly immediately.

Although the typhoon has now passed over the Philippines, police said that 45 people, mostly gold miners – are still missing and feared to have been trapped or killed by the landslides.

Philippine authorities confirmed 6 people were killed in landslides with four more missing, while another was found dead in a river in Manila, the capital.

Footage of cranes collapsing and entire buildings swaying in the high winds have been shared on social media.

The plans of tens of thousands of travellers were disrupted by flight cancellations at Hong Kong’s worldwide airport, a major regional hub.

But that figure could rise to at least $100 billion after the full extent of the damage is assessed, analysts warned.

Mayor Victorio Palangdan of Itogon town, among the worst-hit by the typhoon that struck Saturday, said in a news conference that there was a “99 percent (chance) that they really are all dead”.

Rescue efforts continued Sunday in the Philippines, which weathered the brunt of Mangkhut’s strength the day before. None of them were alive, authorities said Monday.