MANILA (UCAN): At least 11 people were killed and several others reported missing after Tropical Storm Kompasu [Maring] thrashed the Philippines on October 11. Authorities recounted how families ran for their lives as the storm triggered flash floods and landslides. Around 6,500 people were forced to flee their homes due to flash floods.
One family in Española, Palawan, said that before fleeing, they had to suspend a coffin containing a dead family member from the beams of the roof of their home to keep it from being washed away. They later posted a photo.
Commenting on the post, health officials remarked that it was the “most practical” thing to do given the circumstances.
“In my opinion, they did the right thing. Had they tried to take the body to a funeral parlour or church, it would have been dangerous because the flow of floodwater could have carried them away along with the casket,” said one health official who did not wish to be named.
At least four people died on Palawan, while four others were reported missing in the monsoon rains brought on by Kompasu.
Coastguard officials said they had rescued many residents trapped in their homes because of landslides in rural areas.
“The situation was really terrible. Children were crying, waiting to be saved. Their parents could not do anything because they could only carry one or two of their children through the flood,” coastguard spokesperson, Francis De Asis said, adding that many people were bedridden, so rescuers had to enter homes via roofs to bring them to safety.
Elsewhere, at least six people died in landslides in Benguet province, in the northern Philippines, while three others were reported missing, while a security guard swept away by a large wave at a port in Cagayan province.
Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture said farmers had suffered agricultural losses worth almost 500 million pesos [77.7 million] as a result of the storm. Fields were turned into lakes in Cagayan province with rice, cassava and other root crops destroyed.
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Caritas Philippines has begun mobilising help for victims.
“We are accepting goods and other donations that we can send to affected areas,” Father Francis Girao of Caritas in the Diocese of Pampanga said.
Komapasu was upgraded to a typhoon as it sideswiped Hong Kong on October 12 and triggered the raising of the Strong Wind Signal No. 8, shutting down the territory for 23 hours before it was lowered to Signal 3 at around 4.00pm on October 13.
