MANILA (Agencies): Severe Tropical Storm Nalgae [Paeng] swept across the main Phlippine island of Luzon over the weekend of October 29 and 30 packing maximum winds of 95 kilometres per hour after making landfall on the sparsely populated Catanduanes, UCAN reported. The death toll stood at 110, with 101 injured and 31 missing as of November 1, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council [NDRRMC] reported, with little hope of finding survivors in the worst-hit areas.
The heavy rains triggered by the approaching storm began on October 27 affecting areas down to the southern Philippines, PAGASA, the state weather service reported, triggering flash floods in Mindanao island.
That was followed by landslides and flooding, with fast-moving, debris-laden waters sweeping away entire families in some areas and damaging nearly 500 houses.
Meanwhile, PhilStar reported that during a situation briefing, the country’s president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said that declaring a state of national calamity, per the recommendation of the NDRRMC, was unnecessary, saying that the damage caused by was “highly localised” and not as extensive. Rescuers focused on the village of Kusiong, where dozens of bodies were recovered on October 28 after the floods hit. Flooding was also reported in several areas of the central Philippines, though there were no deaths reported there UCAN reported.
The Office of Civil Defence posted on its Facebook page that 98,557 families had been preemptively evacuated with 865,981 people displaced and taking refuge at evacuation centres.
Photos released by the coastguard showed rescuers using an old refrigerator as an improvised boat to pull children from a flooded community on the central island of Leyte.
The Office of Civil Defence posted on its Facebook page that 98,557 families had been preemptively evacuated with 865,981 people displaced and taking refuge at evacuation centres.
In a post on its Facebook page, Caritas Manila reported that it had released an initial 1.7 million pesos [$234,260] worth of cash and in-kind donations for the six dioceses affected by Typhoon Paeng in Cotabato, Capiz, Kalibo, San Jose de Antique, Antipolo and San Pablo, Laguna. In recent years, flash floods with mud and debris from largely deforested mountainsides have been among the deadliest hazards posed by typhoons in the Philippines.
Meanwhile another storm, Tropical Storm Banyan [Queenie] approached bringing more rains over Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, and Dinagat Islands, and moderate to heavy rains in Caraga, Davao region, Northern Mindanao, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, and Bicol, PhilStar reported on November 1, however it had weakened to a tropical depression by noon on November 1 according to PAGASA.
The storms struck at the beginning of a long weekend in the Philippines, when millions return to their hometowns to visit the graves of their relatives.
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Scientists have warned that such storms are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer because of climate change.
