A powerful typhoon left 31 people reported dead, knocked down power and communications in entire provinces and wrought widespread destruction mostly in the central Philippines, officials said Saturday.
Typhoon Rai, known as Odette locally, moved on Friday night into the South China Sea after rampaging through southern and central island provinces, where more than 300,000 people in its path were evacuated to safety in advance in a move officials say may have saved many lives.
At its strongest, the storm packed sustained winds of 195 km/h and gusts of up to 270 km/h, one of the most powerful in recent years to hit the disaster-prone Southeast
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