Deaths, Natural Disaster | featured news

A woman and her 18-month-old daughter were killed Sunday when their East Texas trailer home was engulfed by flames, and thousands of acres across parts of the state continued to burn from wildfires authorities blamed partly on the high winds caused by Tropical Storm Lee.

From North Carolina to Pennsylvania, Hurricane Irene appeared to have fallen short of the doomsday predictions. But with rivers still rising, and roads impassable because of high water and fallen trees, it could be days before the full extent of the damage is known. More than 4.5 million homes and businesses along the coast lost power, and at least 14 deaths were blamed on the storm.

Slow-moving Typhoon Nanmadol remained dangerous Sunday despite weakening as it struck the tip of the mountainous northern Philippines, leaving at least eight people dead and scuttling a visit by a U.S. Navy battleship group, officials said. Taiwan issued sea and land warnings and planned to evacuate about 6,000 people in its eastern and southern regions as it braced for the typhoon. Troops and rescue equipment were deployed for any contingency, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said.

Heavy rain sent landslides barreling through South Korea, killing 17 and leaving at least three missing, officials said.

More flooding across central China has killed 41 people, state media reported Friday, bringing the total killed in seasonal flooding this year to at least 95.

At least 2 people were killed in central Oklahoma in an outbreak of tornadoes, while other funnel clouds were reported near Dallas and Fort Worth.

Tornadoes tore through parts of the U.S. Midwest on Sunday, killing at least 30 people in the Missouri town of Joplin and causing one death in Minneapolis as well as causing extensive property damage.

A tornado swept through a small eastern Kansas town, killing one person and destroying at least 20 homes, as severe thunderstorms pelted the region with hail that some residents said was the size of baseballs, authorities said early Sunday.

A landslide buried 20 boys and four adults at a Malaysian orphanage Saturday where scores of rescuers were digging by their hands in soil softened by the rains to find the missing, police said.

Authorities say 10 people are confirmed dead after storms spawning tornadoes swept through a small eastern North Carolina county.