Typhoon Lee prompts Philippines emergency

December 30, 1981

President Ferdinand Marcos declared an emergency Tuesdayin four provinces where Typhoon Lee killed at least 137 people and left more than half a million homeless in a weekend rampage.

Lee, the 23rd storm to hit the Philippines this year, raked the country's agricultural midsection for 14 hours Saturday with peak winds of more than 100 miles an hour.