Typhoon Kills 300 Across Southeast Asia

By Daniel Schearf Bangkok 30 September 2009

Vietnamese police officers provide goods, foods to flooded area in Quang Tri Province, 30 Sep 2009

The death toll from Typhoon Ketsana has passed 300 as the storm swept across Southeast Asia, destroying thousands of homes. The typhoon killed at least 11 people overnight in Cambodia and 30 in Vietnam.

The typhoon's powerful winds and rain battered and flooded hundreds of thousands of homes across Southeast Asia Tuesday.

The typhoon knocked over and buried homes in landslides, killing entire families in Vietnam and Cambodia. In Vietnam, floods submerged many old buildings in Hoi An, a United Nations World Heritage site.

Uy Samnath is the director of disaster management for the Cambodian Red Cross. He says about 100 families were affected by the typhoon but the agency is still assessing the damage.

"The infrastructure is mostly lost ... For Cambodia it is big. But, if you compare to other countries, it is not big," he said.

Cambodian authorities and aid groups are providing the needy with food, water, and temporary shelters.

The typhoon first hit the Philippines Saturday and Sunday, causing the worst flooding in 40 years and swamping parts of the capital.

At least 246 people were killed in the Philippines.

The storm then battered central Vietnam, sending tens of thousands looking for shelter.

After crossing into Cambodia, Ketsana was downgraded to a tropical depression before heading to Laos, where officials warned residents to be prepared for heavy rain.

In the Philippines, the government is warning citizens to prepare for more rain as another tropical storm approached the northern part of the country.