2 dead as typhoon strikes Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – With memories of last year’s killer typhoons still fresh,Typhoon Megi roared across the Philippines today, ripping off roofs and cutting off electricity.The cyclone’s peak wind speeds have decreased in the past several hours, as the system moved over the Sierra Madre mountains, but it still packed sustained winds of 175 kph (109 mph) with gusts up to 212 kph (132 mph), according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. This is down from peak sustained winds of 212 kph, with gusts up to 259 kph (161 mph), over the weekend.Yet Megi, also known as Typhoon Juan, is expected to pick up steam again as it heads over the South China Sea later today. Current forecasts from the Joint Typhoon Centre show the storm heading toward the southeastern China coast, southeast of Hong Kong.In the Philippines, two people died in what the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council is billing as the strongest storm of the year.Emergency workers pulled the body of Vicente Decena, 53, from a bloated river; a tree fell on the house of Aileen Respicio, 20, killing her and injuring her child. Five others were injured elsewhere, the disaster council reported. (CNN)