Typhoon toll rises in the Philippines

Officials in the Philippines say seven people have been killed in two provinces in flooding ahead of typhoon Migat.

Shirley Escalante reports the typhoon is expected to hit land in the northern Philippines later today.

Officials say most of the people killed in the onslaught of the typhoon was due to drowning in overflowed rivers in eastern provinces. Disaster management officials, upon orders of President Gloriai Arroyo, have been conducting pre-emptive measures in the past days to mitigate the effects of the typhoon. 100,000 people in coastal villages and flood-prone areas in the northeastern parts are being evacuated to safer ground. Power failure in some northern provinces have been reported, while more than three-thousand passengers have been stranded in ports due to suspension of sea travel. The Philippine military has declared a unilateral suspension of military operations against communist rebels in affected areas to allow soldiers to focus on disaster-response operations.

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