About 375 people were killed by a powerful typhoon in the Philippines that destroyed homes, flooded cities, cut power and communications lines and displaced hundreds of thousands in the central and southern regions.
Military planes and warships were dispatched this Monday (20) to bring aid to areas devastated by Typhoon Rai, as the country struggled with the strongest of the 15 storms that hit the archipelago this year.
“We are still assessing the damage, but it is huge,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters on Monday. “The first thing we are doing is taking care of food and water (supplies) and medical care for the wounded.”
Lorenzana told the armed forces to deliver relief supplies using all available resources and send in more troops if necessary.
The number of storm-related deaths increased throughout the day as rescue efforts continued in the hard-hit areas.
As of early morning, Rai’s death toll has risen to 375, police said in a report, making it one of the deadliest typhoons to hit the Southeast Asian country. The number of injuries rose to 500, while 56 people remained missing at the time of publication of this report.
The count, which police said was subject to validation, far exceeded the 58 deaths recorded by the national disaster agency, which said it was still checking reports from the affected areas.
Most of the deaths reported by police took place in the central Visayas region, home to diving spots in Bohol province, one of the most popular tourist destinations, and in the Caraga region of northeast Mindanao.
The provincial governor, Arthur Yap, told the CNN Philippines who feared the death toll could rise further as the lack of mobile phone connections made it difficult to gather information.
Rai, which hit the mainland as a Category 5 typhoon last Thursday (16), relived memories of the devastation wrought in 2013 by Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones on record, which killed 6,300 people in the Philippines.
The phenomenon has left a trail of destruction in the provinces of Cebu, Leyte and Surigao del Norte, including Siargao, popular with surfers, and the Dinagat Islands.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who visited typhoon-hit areas over the weekend, pledged funds of about 2 billion pesos (US$40 million) to help with recovery efforts.
Reference: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
