PARTS of Manila may be without power until Friday after Typhoon Conson hit the Philippines' main island of Luzon, killing at least 11 people with more than 50 missing, and moved towards southern China.

It would take two to three days to repair at least five major transmission lines after cables and wires were cut last night by falling trees, posts and strong winds, said Guillermo Redoblado, spokesman for the national grid corporation.

"The 2-3 days estimate is very conservative because we have not completed our assessment," Redoblado told ANC television, adding about 850 megawatts of capacity would be restored in the next 24-48 hours.

"By the end of the day, we can say half of the requirements of Meralco will be provided for."

Meralco, the main power distributor in the capital and six nearby provinces, provides electricity to 4.7 million households.

Provinces neighbouring the capital were hit harder by Conson, which weakened to a tropical storm after reaching Luzon but sill carried winds of 95 kph (59 mph) and gusts of up to 120 kph.

In the central province of Camarines Norte, four people drowned at sea and two were killed by falling trees, and 40 more people were missing, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo said.

Eight of 19 fishermanmissing since last night were found, but 11 remained unaccounted for, the army said.

Five people were killed and six were missing in Batangas and Cavite provinces, south of Manila, local officials said.

Conson was expected to be out of Philippine territorial waters by tomorrow and reach southern China in 24-48 hours, the weather bureau said. it was expected to regain strength as it moved over the South China Sea.

STOCK MARKET HIGH

Across Manila and surroundingprovinces, the storm felled trees and covered roads in debris and stopped train services.

Hundreds of families moved to temporary shelter areas due to flash floods.

The Agriculture Department said it was too early to make an assessment of any damage to rice and coconut crops in the provinces that were in Conson's path.

Philippine financial markets opened as normal on Wednesday, showing little reaction to the storm as buildings in the central business district were powered by back-up generators.

The stock market rose 1.1 percent to its highest close in 2-? years, lifted by broad gains in Asian stocks.

President Benigno Aquino III scolded the weather bureau for inaccurate forecasts at a meeting of National Disaster Coordinating Council at the main army base in Manila.

"That information is sorelylacking and we have had this problem for quite a long time," Aquino told the weather bureau.

"You do what you are supposed to do and this is not acceptable. I hope this is the last time that we are brought to areas different from where we should be."

Dozens of domestic and international flights were either suspended or diverted from Manila's main airport. Schools were closed but some government offices suspended operations as the country began cleaning up the debris left by Conson, known locally as Basyang.

Typhoons and tropical storms regularly hit the Philippines, Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Japan in the second half of the year, gathering strength from the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean or South China Sea before normally weakening over land.

• missing [´misiŋ] a.缺掉的；失踪的 (初中英语单词)
• repair [ri´peə] v.&n.修理，修补 (初中英语单词)
• corporation [,kɔ:pə´reiʃən] n.社团；法人；公司 (初中英语单词)
• estimate [´estimət, ´estimeit] n.估计；评价 vt.估价 (初中英语单词)
• capacity [kə´pæsiti] n.容量；智能；能力 (初中英语单词)
• province [´prɔvins] n.省；领域；范围 (初中英语单词)
• interior [in´tiəriə] n.&a.内部地(的) (初中英语单词)
• fisherman [´fiʃəmən] n.渔民，渔夫，打鱼人 (初中英语单词)
• bureau [´bjuərəu] n.局；编辑部；事务所 (初中英语单词)
• agriculture [´ægrikʌltʃə] n.农业；农事 (初中英语单词)
• financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中英语单词)
• normal [´nɔ:məl] a.正规的 n.正常状态 (初中英语单词)
• wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (初中英语单词)
• reaction [ri´ækʃən] n.反应(力) (初中英语单词)
• disaster [di´zɑ:stə] n.灾难，不幸 (初中英语单词)
• supposed [sə´pəuzd] a.想象的；假定的 (初中英语单词)
• domestic [də´mestik] a.家庭的；本国的 (初中英语单词)
• international [,intə´næʃənəl] a.国际的，世界的 (初中英语单词)
• conservative [kən´sə:vətiv] a.保守的 n.保守者 (高中英语单词)
• electricity [i,lek´trisiti] n.电；电学；电流 (高中英语单词)
• tropical [´trɔpikəl] a.热带地区的 (高中英语单词)
• regain [ri´gein] vt.收回；恢复 (高中英语单词)
• surrounding [sə´raundiŋ] n.周围的事物 (高中英语单词)
• temporary [´tempərəri] a.暂时的 n.临时工 (高中英语单词)
• regularly [´regjuləli] ad.有规律地；经常地 (高中英语单词)
• philippines [´filipi:nz] n.菲律宾 (高中英语单词)
• pacific [pə´sifik] a.和平的；温和的 (高中英语单词)
• coconut [´kəukənʌt] n.椰子(果)；头 (英语四级单词)
• acceptable [ək´septəbəl] a.可接受的；合意的 (英语四级单词)
• mainland [´meinlənd] n.大陆；本土 (英语四级单词)
• gathering [´gæðəriŋ] n.集会，聚集 (英语四级单词)
• transmission [trænz´miʃən, træns-] n.传送；播送；发射 (英语六级单词)
• spokesman [´spəuksmən] n.发言人 (英语六级单词)
• territorial [,teri´tɔ:riəl] a.领地的；区域的 (英语六级单词)
• sorely [´sɔ:li] ad.痛苦地；剧烈地 (英语六级单词)
• lacking [´lækiŋ] a.缺少的，没有的 (英语六级单词)
• normally [´nɔ:məli] ad.正常情况下；通常 (英语六级单词)