Storm toll rises in Philippines as country reels from landslides, flooding
More than 100 people are dead or missing after Tropical Storm Trami swept the Philippines, sparking flooding and landslides and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate their homes.
The aftermath of Trami, known in the Philippines as Kristine, has been “horrific” and a period of “tremendous loss,” Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a Facebook post Saturday.
Almost 130 are dead or missing across the northwestern Philippines, the Associated Press reported, adding that half a million people fled to emergency centers. The storm is the deadliest of 11 to strike the Philippines this year.
In some areas, one or two months’ worth of rainfall – over 19 inches – fell within 24 hours, local media reported.
“The water was just too much,” Marcos said, adding that many areas remained flooded and hard to access.
Officials mobilized government resources to provide food, medical supplies and financial assistance to those affected by the flooding and landslides, Marcos said, adding that the storm “left communities underwater, families displaced and livelihoods shaken.”
Talisay, a town in Batangas province about 40 miles south of Manila, was one of several ravaged by Trami. A state of emergency was declared in Quezon City, northeast of Manila, the Philippine Office of Civil Defense said Sunday.
Bicol was among the hardest-hit regions, with waters submerging several residential areas and agricultural land. Floodwaters have inundated much of Naga City, local media reported.
“I make this pledge to our people,” Marcos said on social media. “Help is on the way. It will come by land, air, and, even by sea.”
Marcos expressed concern during an emergency meeting that the storm, which made landfall in central Vietnam on Sunday, could make a U-turn next week as it is pushed back by winds in the South China Sea, the AP reported.
On Saturday, Marcos visited those affected by the storm in Bula, Camarines Sur, including at evacuation centers, his office said.
A statement from his office said Saturday that it was crucial to find a “long-term solution” to the flooding, which officials attributed to climate change.
Rain, fatal flooding and typhoons strike frequently in the Philippines, a nation of more than 7,000 islands. Flooding throughout this year has fueled concerns that climate change is driving extreme weather and will make such events more common.
Drought and flooding are closely tied to human-driven warming, which makes the world wetter by increasing humidity and heat indexes, causing more frequent precipitation extremes, The Washington Post has reported.