MANILA — The death toll from tropical storm Trami that slammed into the Philippines this week has risen to 110, with at least 42 still missing, due to massive flooding and landslides, the Philippines’ National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Sunday.
The disaster agency said Trami impacted over 5.9 million people across 16 regions across the Southeast Asian country.
Trami, the 11th typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, barrelled across the Philippines, leaving a trail of destruction with disastrous flooding and landslides on Luzon island, particularly in the Bicol and Calabarzon regions, and areas in the central and southern Philippines.
Authorities are still searching for the 42 missing people who were either buried in landslides or washed away by the floods.
The Philippine Coast Guard said Trami also stranded over 8,000 people at seaports.
Two days after Trami exited the Philippines on Friday, disaster victims are still desperately waiting for food and clean water.
Some of the displaced by the flood started returning to their homes as the flood receded on Saturday.
Trami’s damage to infrastructure is estimated to reach 994.6 million pesos (16.98 million U.S. dollars), while damage to agriculture was 1.432 billion pesos (24.5 million dollars).
The Philippines is bracing for more rains due to the impact of another tropical cyclone, Kong-Rey, which was spotted 1,000 km east of Luzon Island on Sunday.
Moving westward at a speed of 20 km per hour, Kong-Rey packs 75 km per hour winds and gusts of up to 90 km per hour.
The state weather bureau forecast that Kong-Rey will gradually intensify in the next 24 hours and may reach the severe tropical storm category on Monday and the typhoon category on Tuesday.
“This tropical cyclone may also undergo rapid intensification,” the bureau warned.
An average of 20 typhoons lash the Philippines yearly.
XINHUA