4th typhoon in month lashes Philippines; 7 killed

A typhoon battered the Philippine capital and surrounding provinces still reeling from recent flooding, sending residents of one town clambering onto rooftops Saturday to escape rising waters. Seven people died and at least five were missing.

Typhoon Mirinae was the fourth storm to lash the northern Philippines since late September and brought new hardship to areas still struggling in the wake of the previous disasters. Nearly 95,000 people who fled during two prior storms were still living in temporary shelters when Mirinae struck, the national disaster agency said.

Saturday's storm headed out to sea in the afternoon and weakened into a tropical storm. It appeared to be heading toward Vietnam.

As Mirinae slammed into Quezon province northeast of Manila around midnight Friday, Philippine authorities evacuated more than 115,000 people in nine provinces east and south of the capital in the storm's path on main Luzon island, the National Disaster Coordinating Council reported. At its height, its winds were blowing 93 miles per hour (150 kilometers per hour) and gusting up to 115 mph (185 kph).

One river in Laguna province, south of Manila, overflowed, washing away a bridge and flooding most of lakeside Santa Cruz town. Residents clambered onto roofs to escape the waters, said Mayor Ariel Magcalas..

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