Whole towns were washed away or buried by landslides when Typhoon Botha smashed into a mountainous region on the southern island of Mindanao last week, leaving 548 people confirmed dead and 827 missing.
Michael McCrae is executive editor of MINING.com. Before coming to InfoMine, Michael worked as a reporter and editor for newspapers throughout British Columbia. He has written for the Vancouver Sun, Prince Rupert Daily News and others. He also worked in pre-sales for various software firms and banks.