Landslides and flooding from a tropical storm in the Philippines killed at least eight people and left four missing before the storm moved on, officials said Sunday. The storm, locally known as Jolina, was being tracked over the South China Sea, about 335 miles (540 kilometers) northwest of the mountainous northern Philippines, with sustained winds of 50 miles per hour (75 kph), officials said. The storm, the tenth to hit the country this year, struck northeastern Aurora province on Thursday then sliced westward across northern Luzon island, swamping rice fields and causing landslides, government forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said. Six people drowned in floods in the central Philippines, including a four-year-old child caught in a swollen river, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said. A child and her grandmother also died Friday in a landslide in Antipolo city, north of Manila, the council said. Four people who were swept away by floods were declared missing in central Iloilo province and on nearby Negros island. More than 9,300 were displaced from their homes, including 2,600 who were taken to evacuation centers. About 20 typhoons and storms lash the Philippine archipelago annually, according to a report of The Associated Press.
