Floods, landslides in Philippines’ south kill at least 31
Philippine Coast Guard rescuers evacuate residents from their flooded homes due to a tropical storm in Maguindanao province, Philippines.(Reuters: Philippine Coast Guard/Handout)
At least 31 people died in flash floods and landslides set off by torrential rains that have swamped a southern Philippine province overnight, officials said on Friday.
Key points:
- Heavy rains from Tropical Storm Nalgae have killed at least 31
- The floods started to recede when the rains eased on Friday morning
- It is the 16th storm to hit the Philippine archipelago this year
A heavy downpour caused by an approaching tropical storm caused floods and landslides that affected several municipalities in Maguindanao province, Naguib Sinarimbo, interior minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Mindanao, said via phone.
Mr Sinarimbo said rescue operations are ongoing for people who are missing, but he could not say how many.
He said the weather on Friday had slightly improved after incessant rain on Thursday night.
“The numbers are still moving and we still expect them to rise,” Mr Sinarimbo said.
The unusually heavy rains that flooded several towns in Maguindanao and outlying provinces overnight in mountainous regions with marshy plains were caused by Tropical Storm Nalgae, which was expected to hit the country’s eastern coast from the Pacific Ocean on Saturday morning, according to forecasters.
Floodwaters rapidly rose in many low-lying villages, forcing some villagers to climb onto their roofs, where they were rescued by army troops, police and volunteers, officials said.
“In one area in Upi only the attic of a school can be seen above the floodwater,” said disaster-mitigation officer Nasrullah Imam, referring to a flood-engulfed town in Maguindanao.
The wide rain bands of Nalgae, the 16th storm to hit the Philippine archipelago this year, enabled it to dump rains in the country’s south although the storm was blowing farther north, government forecaster Sam Duran said.
About 20 typhoons and storms batter the Philippines each year.
It’s located in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a region along most of the Pacific Ocean rim where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur, making the South-East Asian archipelago one of the world’s most disaster-prone areas.
Reuters/AP
