Storm blows away from northern Philippines leaving 82 dead but forecasters warn it may do a U-turn

Tropical Storm Trami blew away from the northwestern Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 82 people dead in landslides and extensive flooding that forced authorities to scramble for more rescue boats to save thousands of terrified people, who were trapped, some on their roofs.

But the onslaught may not be over: State forecasters raised the rare possibility that the storm -- the 11th and one of the deadliest to hit the Philippines this year -- could make a U-turn next week as it is pushed back by high-pressure winds in the South China Sea.

A Philippine provincial police chief said Friday that 49 people were killed mostly in landslides set off by Trami in Batangas province south of Manila. That brought the overall death toll from the storm to at least 82.

Eleven other villagers remain missing in Batangas, Col. Jacinto Malinao Jr. told The Associated Press by telephone from the lakeside town of Talisay, where he stood beside a villager whose wife and child were buried in the deep mound of mud, boulders and trees.

With the use of a backhoe and shovels, police scrambled to search into 10 feet (3 metres) of mud, rocks and debris and found a part of a head and foot that apparently were those of the missing woman and child.

"He's simply devastated," Malinao said of the villager, a fisherman, whose wife and child were buried in the landslide that happened Thursday afternoon amid torrential rains while he was away tending to fish cages in a lake.

"He's in shock and couldn't speak and we're only asking him to point to where their bedroom was located so we can dig in that part," Malinao said.

The storm was last tracked Friday afternoon blowing 410 kilometres (255 miles) west of the northwestern Philippine province of Ilocos Sur with sustained winds of up to 95 km/h (59 mph) and gusts of up to 115 km/h (78 mph). It was moving northwestward at 30 km/h (19 mph) toward Vietnam, which is forecast to be lashed by Trami starting on Sunday if it stays on course.

The Philippine weather agency, however, said it's possible that high-pressure winds and other weather factors in the South China Sea could force the storm to turn back toward the Philippines.

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