Strong Typhoon Heads Toward Flood-Battered Philippines

[Louisiana1976]

Millions of flood-hit survivors of Typhoon Ketsana across Southeast Asia waited for aid and braced for a possible new super storm Thursday as the death toll from the disaster climbed to 383.

One of the most destructive storms in recent years, Ketsana wreaked havoc in the Philippines at the weekend while still a tropical storm, then strengthened over the South China Sea to batter Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

The Philippines early Thursday raised the number of confirmed dead from Ketsana to 277, Vietnam to 92 and Cambodia to 14, with nearly three million people affected. No casualties were reported from Laos.

In Manila, nearly 700,000 people swamped makeshift government-run shelters amid fears that a storm east of the Philippines could develop into a "super typhoon" and lash areas still reeling from Ketsana.

"We are dealing with a very strong typhoon, so we should be at the highest level of preparedness," state weather bureau spokesman Nathaniel Cruz said as Typhoon Parma churned towards the country, with landfall expected Saturday.

Parma was packing gusts of up to 185 kilometres (114.7 miles) per hour (kph). The government defines a super typhoon as one with sustained winds of 175-200 kph and the potential to cause heavy damage.

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