MANILA – Rescuers raced on Wednesday to discover dozens of people still missing following the weekend’s catastrophic floods and landslides in the Philippines.
Rain-induced flash floods surged over 10 provinces as Filipinos celebrated Christmas, killing about 400,000 people in one of the country’s bloodiest weather-related incidents this year.
According to disaster response officials, the number of reported casualties has risen to 25 from 17 on Tuesday, with the majority of deaths occurring by drowning in the Northern Mindanao region of the country’s south.
“As of today, we have 25 recorded deceased, largely due to drowning. Then there are nine injured and 26 missing,” said Diego Agustin Mariano, information officer at the Office of Civil Defense.
“The majority of the missing are fishermen from coastal villages in Catanduanes and Eastern Samar. The Philippines Coast Guard is now leading a search and rescue mission for them.”
Over 81,400 people stayed at evacuation centers in the central southern provinces of Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
“As the situation improved, the others returned to their separate houses,” Mariano stated.
Unlike past tragic weather-related catastrophes in the country, the floods were not caused by tropical storms, which affect the Philippines on a regular basis.
The Christmas rains were triggered by a shear line, which formed in the country’s south and is formed when warm and cold winds combine.
Several studies have identified the Philippines as one of the countries most affected and vulnerable to climate change. For the past decade, the archipelago nation has seen an upsurge in severely damaging weather events as the world has warmed.
Source: Philippine News
