The Philippines ordered its military, on Monday (20), to send planes and warships to bring aid in areas devastated by a powerful typhoon that displaced hundreds of thousands of people and killed at least 211 people.
Many parts of the central and southern parts of the country are isolated after Typhoon Rai, the strongest to hit the archipelago this year, brought down energy and communication systems, hampering rescue operations.
“We’re still assessing the damage, but it’s huge,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters. “The first thing we are doing is taking care of food and water and medical care for the wounded.”
Lorenzana told the armed forces to deliver urgent supplies using all available resources, as well as sending in more troops if necessary, he added.
Police said the death toll in Rai had risen to 211, making it one of the deadliest typhoons to hit the Southeast Asian country. More than 200 were injured and 52 people are missing.
The police number far surpassed the 58 deaths recorded by the national disaster agency, which said it was still checking reports from the affected areas.
More than half of the deaths reported by police occurred in the central Visayas region, where diving spots are located in Bohol province, one of the most popular tourist destinations.
Provincial Governor Arthur Yap told CNN Philippines that he 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 on 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.
Rai, who displaced nearly 490,000 people in the Philippines before moving into the South China Sea over the weekend.
It 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 $40 million to help with recovery efforts.
Information from Enrico Dela Cruz and Karen Lema; edited by Ed Davies and Clarence Fernandez, Reuters
Reference: CNN Brasil
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