hundreds of villages and the storm's death toll climbed to 18. Fung-wong, which displaced 1.4 million people, had weakened into a severe tropical storm even as it began dumping rain on neighbouring Taiwan ahead of an expected Wednesday landfall. It was the second major typhoon to hit the Philippines in days, after Typhoon Kalmaegi last week rampaged through the archipelago's central islands on its way to killing 232 people, according to the latest figures. In coastal Isabela province, a town of 6,000 remained cut off from help on Tuesday, a civil defence spokesman told AFP, with parts of neighbouring Nueva Vizcaya province similarly isolated. "We are struggling to access these areas," said Cagayan Valley region spokesman Alvin Ayson, who added that landslides had prevented rescuers from reaching affected residents. Others were "now in evacuation centres, but when they get back to their homes, their rebuilding will take time and face challenges."

He added that a 10-year-old boy in Nueva Vizcaya had been killed by one of the landslides. The child was among 18 deaths recorded in a new death toll released Tuesday by national civil defence deputy administrator Rafaelito Alejandro. In a phone interview, Alejandro told AFP that even "early recovery" efforts would take weeks. "The greatest challenge for us right now is the restoration of lifelines, road clearing, and restoration of power and communication lines, but we are working on it." (Bssnews)