Philippine disaster authorities struggled Wednesday to cope with the devastation wrought by Typhoon Bopha that left hundreds of people dead or missing and drove tens of thousands from their homes. Meanwhile, officials tried to tally the economic damage to the already poor southern regions that were hardest hit.

Rescue teams struggled to reach isolated residents in places that the storm churned into a sea of mud, upended trees, toppled electrical poles and flattened buildings or tore off their roofs. Wide areas were without electricity for the second day. The government used trucks and boats to bring food, blankets, medicines and cadaver bags to stricken areas.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council put the death toll at 274, with only 26 people identified, and said 339 people were injured. But officials feared the toll would increase significantly as isolated areas are reached by rescuers and more fatalities among the hundreds of people listed as missing are verified. The Associated Press reported the overall death count neared 300.

Fe Maestre, spokeswoman for the government of hardest-hit Compostela Valley province, said that as of noon Wednesday authorities had counted 156 dead in the province, with 111 alone from New Bataan--the town where an outpost of soldiers who were supposed to lead the rescue efforts was destroyed by a flash flood.

The economic damage to infrastructure and agriculture could run into billions of pesos (tens of millions of dollars), provincial officials said, with several bridges cut, roads washed out, power lines severed, and banana, coconut, vegetable and rubber plantations ruined. But the area doesn't have significant industry, and most economic activity is small-scale farming or gold mining.

Benito Ramos, head of the national disaster and relief council, said it was 'premature' for the government to estimate the damage caused by Bopha while the storm was still on Philippine territory. But officials in the stricken provinces were already counting the costs and painting a grim picture of lives and livelihoods destroyed.

Ms. Maestre said that several bridges were damaged and that the impact on agriculture could be extensive, with around 70% of the province's crops damaged.

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas III said an aerialsurvey of affected areas showed hectares of fallen coconut and banana trees, while '6 inches of mud slurry' covered the town of New Bataan, with a population of around 48,000. 'There's hardly any structure in New Bataan that isn't damaged,' he said in a television interview.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said many of the evacuees will likely stay in relief centers for months because of the extent of the devastation.

The national disaster council estimated that almost 180,000 people were in evacuation centers.

The weather bureau said that Bopha, which means 'blossom' in Khmer, is expected to exit Philippine territory by late Thursday. It is the 16th typhoon to enter Philippine territory this year but is the strongest to strike the south in two decades. It packed gusts reaching as much as 210 kilometers per hour before it made landfall.

Cris Larano / Josephine Cuneta

• disaster [di´zɑ:stə]   n.灾难，不幸   (初中英语单词)
• wednesday [´wenzdi]   n.星期三   (初中英语单词)
• wrought [rɔ:t]   work 的过去式(分词)   (初中英语单词)
• missing [´misiŋ]   a.缺掉的；失踪的   (初中英语单词)
• meanwhile [´mi:n´wail]   n.&ad.其间；同时   (初中英语单词)
• reduction [ri´dʌkʃən]   n.减少；缩小；降低   (初中英语单词)
• management [´mænidʒmənt]   n.管理；处理；经营   (初中英语单词)
• valley [´væli]   n.谷；河谷；流域   (初中英语单词)
• province [´prɔvins]   n.省；领域；范围   (初中英语单词)
• supposed [sə´pəuzd]   a.想象的；假定的   (初中英语单词)
• rescue [´reskju:]   vt.&n.救援；挽救   (初中英语单词)
• agriculture [´ægrikʌltʃə]   n.农业；农事   (初中英语单词)
• banana [bə´nɑ:nə]   n.香蕉   (初中英语单词)
• vegetable [´vedʒtəbəl]   a.&n.蔬菜(的)；植物   (初中英语单词)
• rubber [´rʌbə]   n.(摩)擦的人；橡皮   (初中英语单词)
• relief [ri´li:f]   n.救济；援救；减轻   (初中英语单词)
• estimate [´estimət, ´estimeit]   n.估计；评价 vt.估价   (初中英语单词)
• painting [´peintiŋ]   n.绘画；(油)画；着色   (初中英语单词)
• extensive [ik´stensiv]   a.广阔的；大量的   (初中英语单词)
• survey [´sə:vei]   vt.&n.俯瞰；审视；测量   (初中英语单词)
• structure [´strʌktʃə]   n.结构，构造；组织   (初中英语单词)
• welfare [´welfeə]   n.福利(事业)   (初中英语单词)
• extent [ik´stent]   n.长度；程度；范围   (初中英语单词)
• bureau [´bjuərəu]   n.局；编辑部；事务所   (初中英语单词)
• electrical [i´lektrikəl]   a.用电的；与电有关的   (高中英语单词)
• electricity [i,lek´trisiti]   n.电；电学；电流   (高中英语单词)
• stricken [´strikən]   strike的过去分词   (高中英语单词)
• significant [sig´nifikənt]   a.重要的；意义重大的   (高中英语单词)
• provincial [prə´vinʃəl]   a.省的 n.外省人   (英语四级单词)
• coconut [´kəukənʌt]   n.椰子(果)；头   (英语四级单词)
• aerial [´eəriəl]   a.空中的 n.天线   (英语四级单词)
• impact [´impækt]   n.影响，作用；冲击   (英语六级单词)
• affected [ə´fektid]   a.做作的；假装的   (英语六级单词)