Second typhoon inundates Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – Back-to-back typhoons left at least 55 people dead and rescuers scrambling today to deliver food and water to hundreds of villagers stuck on rooftops for four days because of flooding in the northern Philippines.

Typhoon Nalgae slammed ashore in northeastern Isabela province Saturday then barreled across the main Luzon Island’s mountainous north and agricultural plains that were still sodden from fierce rain and wind unleashed by a howler just days earlier. Nalgae left at least three people dead Saturday while Typhoon Nesat killed 52 others in the same region before blowing out Friday.

Nalgae was whirling 124 miles over the South China Sea from the country’s northeast toward southern China early today with sustained winds of 81 miles per hour and gusts of 99 mph.

Its ferocious wind set off a rockslide in northern Bontoc province Saturday, causing boulders to roll down a mountainside and smash on a passing van, where a passenger was pinned to death and another was injured, police said.