19 people killed, widespread devastation after typhoon hits Philippines

A powerful typhoon left at least 19 people dead, knocked down power and communications in entire provinces and wrought widespread destruction mostly in the central Philippines, officials said Saturday.

Typhoon Rai blew away Friday night into the South China Sea after rampaging through southern and central island provinces, where more than 3,00,000 people were evacuated to safety in advance.

At its strongest, Rai packed sustained winds of 195 km per hour and gusts of up to 270 kph, 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.

The typhoon slammed into the country's southeastern coast Thursday but the extent of casualties and destruction remained unclear two days after with entire provinces still without power and cell phone connection.

Officials on 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.

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