MANILA TIMES (Philippines), REUTERS, BBC NEWS (UK), NEW YORK TIMES (USA)

Worldcrunch

MANILA - The death toll from a typhoon that swept through the Philippines archipelago jumped to 238 on Wednesday with hundreds missing, reports Reuters.

At least 156 people are known to have died in the Compostela Valley province alone, when Typhoon Bopha struck Mindanao Island, local officials told the BBC.

Eighty-one other people were killed in the nearby province of Davao Oriental and 15 in other areas, according to the army and the civil defense office.

Rescuers have reached most areas, but have had difficulty getting to some isolated communities, said BBC. Dozens of people are still missing reports the Manila Times.

Typhoon Bhopa struck the Southern Island of Mindanao Tuesday, toppling trees and blowing away homes with 210 kilometer per hour gusts.

Rains flattened entire villages and damaged roads and bridges, reports the New York Times. In some towns, 95% of the buildings were destroyed.

The storm has weakened and is now heading to the South China Sea. The Philippines are hit by more than 20 powerful tropical storms every year, but Bopha struck remote communities off the usual storm path, that are not accustomed to such strong typhoons.