Philippines assesses damage as typhoon heads to China

Typhoon Megi cleared the Philippines' main island and headed towards China on Tuesday, and authorities said initial estimates showed the super storm had damaged around one percent of the country's unmilled rice crop.

The typhoon, which officials have so far said killed 10 people in the Philippines, is expected to hit China's southern Guangdong province on either Friday or Saturday after picking up strength over the South China Sea, state news agency Xinhua said, adding it would be the strongest storm to hit China this year.

The typhoon would also affect the southern resort island of Hainan and the region of Guangxi. Floods were also reported in Vietnam and Thailand's northeast, where thousands of people have been left homeless and four people have died so far.

In the Philippines, disaster agency officials were trying to reach eastern coastal towns and villages, saying most houses appear to have been destroyed. Megi -- the strongest storm this year -- hit land as a category 5 super typhoon with winds in excess of 250kph (155mph) on Monday.

The farm ministry's early assessment that at least 10%, or some 105,000 tonnes, of the rice crop in the country's second biggest production area, the Cagayan valley, had been destroyed was well below a worst-case scenario of more than 230,000 tonnes.

"It's a conservative estimate," Dennis Araullo, assistant secretary at the department said by phone, adding crop losses in other provinces had yet to be accounted for.

The Philippines is the world's biggest rice importer and damage from the typhoon could see it buy more than had been expected for 2011, which could push up international prices.

Faustino Dy, governor of Isabela province which accounts for 60% of rice output in the Cagayan valley, said the damage was much higher.

"We would have produced 575,000 metric tonnes of rice. But because of typhoon Juan, 385,000 tons had been affected," he said, using the Philippine name for the typhoon.

Bureau of Agricultural Statistics figures showed the Cagayan valley produced 2.1 million tonnes, or 13%, of the national rice output of 16 million tonnes in 2009.

The national disaster agency put the death toll so far at 10, a low tally for such a strong typhoon in the country of some 94 million.

More than 3 million people live in Cagayan Valley, where the storm first hit and the government had spearheaded an evacuation drive from there and other coastal areas.

Benito Ramos, executive director of the national disaster agency, said three people drowned in Maconacon town, which was directly in Megi's path, when swept away giant waves on Monday.

Nearly 20 people were also injured, mostly by shattered glass panels, he said, adding preparation and the evacuation of nearly 8,000 people had limited the loss of life.

On Tuesday, soldiers joined residents in clearing fallen trees and patching up houses that had lost roofing and walls.

More thorough damage assessments were expected as local air carriers resumed normal operations, but many areas still remained without telephones and electricity.

"We'll try to reach coastal towns facing the Pacific, because there were reports 90% of the houses there were wiped out," Ramos told reporters.

In July, a typhoon killed 102 people after it unexpectedly changed direction and sliced through Manila, cutting power across the city of 12 million people. That prompted President Benigno Aquino to sack the chief weather forecaster.

After clearing the Philippines, Megi is expected to regain some strength over the South China Sea. Tropical Storm Risk's projections show the storm is expected to turn away from Vietnam towards China, with the centre passing between Hainan island and Hong Kong.

Some 140,000 people have been evacuated from 15 cities on Hainan island since heavy rains reached the province on Friday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.