Typhoon Rai Intensifies to Category 5 Storm as it Slams Philippines

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INTERNATIONAL: More than 300,000 people fled their homes and beachfront resorts as Typhoon Rai pummeled the southern and central regions of the country, knocking out communications in some areas and tearing roofs off buildings.

Rai was a super typhoon, the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year when it slammed into Siargao Island on Thursday, packing maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometres an hour By Friday, wind speeds had eased to 155 kilometres an hour.

All buildings sustained heavy damage, including the provincial disaster office. It looks like it's been hit by a bomb.The main roads leading into the coastal city had been cut off by landslides, uprooted trees and toppled power poles.

The national disaster agency has confirmed seven people have been killed and many others injured in the storm, which was heading towards the popular tourist destination of Palawan island.

More than 300,000 people had sought emergency shelter as the typhoon has charged across the Pacific Ocean and smashed into the country.The wind was very strong. Everything sustained damage -- roofs blown off, access roads blocked by landslides. The devastation is hard to explain.

A lot of fallen trees in the central city of Cebu cleared fallen trees. In Lapu-Lapu city roadside buildings were flattened by the storm, while sheets of corrugated iron roofing and branches littered streets.A building and gym belonging to the Philippine Red Cross in the central province of Southern Leyte were badly damaged, with part of the roof torn off.

Scientists have long warned that typhoons are becoming more powerful, and strengthening more rapidly, as the world becomes warmer because of human-driven climate change.A super typhoon is the equivalent of a category five hurricane in the United States.The Earth tends to experience around five storms of that power a year.

Rai was moving across the Visayas region towards Palawan on Friday and was expected to emerge Saturday over the South China Sea, heading towards Vietnam.

Five Children Dead, as Winds Lifts Jumping Castle into the Air

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Five children have died and four others are injured after a “horrific” bouncy castle they were playing in was picked up by a gust of wind in Australia on Thursday, police say.

The accident happened at a school fun day on Thursday in Devonport, Tasmania. Hillcrest Primary School was holding its annual tradition to mark the end of the school year.The children were in the fifth and sixth grade, meaning they were likely 10 or 11 years old.

Two girls and two boys were among the victims. A fifth child later died in hospital.Four more children remain in hospital in critical condition.

Tasmanian Police Commissioner Darren Hine said “A wind gust had reportedly caused the jumping castle and inflatable balls to lift into the air,” adding that the children likely fell from about 10 metres in the air.

The accident would rank among Australia's deadliest involving an amusement ride, and brought on a wave of disbelief and mourning.

Wind Storm Overturns Semi-Trailer in Kansas

^{PHOTO: DASHCAM VIDEO OF A MOVING TRUCK LOSING CONTROL THEN FALLING OVER DUE TO HIGH WINDS IN LINCOLN, NEBRASKA.}

Nebraska State Patrol has released dashcam footage on Wednesday showing a semi-truck losing control before being blown over by the wind on Interstate 80, near Lincoln.

Troopers have responded to a number of high-profile vehicles tipping over during today's high winds and severe storms. This one happened right in front of a trooper on I-80 in Lincoln at about 3:30 pm. Nebraska State Patrol has reported that thankfully the driver was wearing a seat belt and was not injured,the

The United States on Wednesday registered the highest number of hurricane-force gusts on record in a single day, the National Weather Service (NWS) said, days after one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history.

Seventy-four people died in Kentucky and 14 in nearby states after a tornado-riddled storm system swept through the region on Friday.