Philippines:Typhoon leaves 31 dead,many homes roofless

In Philippines, a powerful typhoon left at least 31 people dead and many missing. The strongest storm has toppled power poles, uprooted trees and left three million people without electricity. The typhoon lashed the Visayas and Mindanao areas.The country's disaster agency said the reported death toll stands at 31. Rescue operations are now underway in the devastated regions. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) spokesperson said over 3 lakh 32 thousand people have been evacuated in the Visayas and Caraga regions. 

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. 

Dinagat Islands, one of the first provinces to be lashed by the typhoon's ferocious winds, remained cut off Saturday due to downed power and communication lines. Its governor, Arlene Bag-ao, managed to post a statement on the province's website to say that the island of about 180,000 “has been leveled to the ground.” She pleaded for food, water, temporary shelters, fuel, hygiene kits and medical supplies. She said only a few casualties have been reported in the capital so far because other towns remain isolated. Some of Dinagat's hospitals could not open due to damage. “Most of our commercial and cargo vessels are now unsuitable for sea voyages, effectively cutting us off from the rest of the country. she said. Almost 95% of houses in Dinagat have no roof,” and even emergency shelters were destroyed.There are no shelters, the churches, gymnasium, schools, public markets and even the capitol were all shattered.