Torn by Wind and Water

In the Philippines it was a roaring typhoon; in Korea, a torrent of rain. Together, wind and water left a trail of misery last week that stunned even those Asians long inured to natural disasters. Typhoon Ike hit the southern Philippine coast with gusts of over 120 m.p.h., leaving a path of destruction that reached into the northern tip of Mindanao and pummeled the islands of Cebu, Negros and Panay. The storm left more than 2,000 dead and 200,000 homeless before moving across the South China Sea to northeastern Thailand, causing several more deaths and extensive flooding. Total damage in the Philippines was estimated at $100 million.

From the South Korean capital of Seoul to the country's central region, rain gushed like waterfalls off rocky hillsides, unleashing mud slides that left 139 dead, more than 100 injured and as many as 207,000 homeless. After a week of frantic digging through the rubble by troops and rescue workers, 45 people are still missing and feared dead. Material losses are estimated to be $48 million. The timing of the storm was a tragic coincidence for South Koreans: it began on Sept. 1, the first anniversary of the downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 by a Soviet jet fighter over Sakhalin Island.