Severe weather devastation in Asia

Severe flooding and landslides in China and the Philippines have killed over 100 people and left dozens missing.

Landslides slammed into three mountain hamlets in western China early on Tuesday, killing 17 people and leaving 44 missing. Four people died and rescuers were searching for 42 others, another 38 were injured.

Soldiers blew up a dike in Anhui Province on Wednesday to stop floodwater threatening a town of 100,000. Soldiers blasted through parts of the dam so that the flood water flowed on to agricultural land rather than submerging Tongcheng city.

Residents in the normally arid Anhui province were rescued by soldiers, and helped on to boats to emergency centres. More heavy rain was expected to sweep through the Yangtze River basin, including Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Sichuan provinces on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, at least nine people died and 11 others were missing after the first typhoon to lash the Philippines this year flooded streets in the capital Manila and toppled power lines. Typhoon Conson slammed into northeast Quezon province with winds of 75 milesper hour late on Tuesday. The storm blew out of Manila before dawn on Wednesday, leaving downed branches, trees and scattered trash.

Workers rushed to fix damaged power lines that left more than half of the main northern island without electricity. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines said it would take two to three days to normalise the situation, with Manila getting only half its needs and hotels and malls running their own generators.

Flooding also hit parts of Japan on Wednesday, causing mudslides and damage to roads and buildings. Mud could be seen streaming down the mountainside outside Kokura City, in Fukuoka Prefecture.