Torrential rains forced the evacuation of more than 45,000 people, most of whom are believed to be fishermen.
The death toll from rain and flooding on Christmas Day in the southern Philippines has risen to 13, with 23 others still missing, according to the country’s disaster management board.
Most of the deaths were due to flash flooding following two days of heavy rain over Christmas, affecting more than 166,000 people and forcing more than 45,000 to shelter in evacuation centres, the Council for Management and Risk Mitigation. national disaster risk said Tuesday.
Images on social media showed coastguards, police and firefighters wading through waist-deep floodwaters and carrying residents along landslide-stricken areas and out of villages and streets. flooded. According to local news agency Inquirer.net, 12 roads were flooded and more than 20 areas in the affected area remained without power as of Tuesday.
Unlike previous disaster caused by tropical storm in the PhilippinesThe most recent torrential rains and flooding are the result of a fault line — an area where warm winds and cold winds meet and form giant rain clouds.
The deaths include a one-year-old girl and a 64-year-old man who drowned in separate incidents in Camarines Sur province, about 270km southeast of Manila. Four other people are reported dead in the southern province of Misamis Occidental, including a 68-year-old woman who suffered a heart attack after being rescued.
The disaster agency said those still missing were mainly fishermen who went out to sea despite the danger due to bad weather.
Carmelito Heray, head of the disaster agency in Clarin town, Misamis Occidental province, told radio station DZBB that rescue operations were continuing and agricultural damage was being assessed.
“The big damage here is livestock,” Town Mayor Clarin Emeterio Roa said on radio.
The country’s weather office, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said on Tuesday that the cut still exists and that heavy rain will continue in parts of the country. country, and landslides due to rain may occur in some areas.
“Offices of disaster risk reduction and management and concerned communities should take all necessary measures to protect life and property,” PAGASA he said.
