(Manila) At least 72 people died in floods and landslides in the Philippines, when the tropical storm Nalgae fell on the archipelago on Saturday, according to a new report communicated by the authorities.
Updated at 12:23 a.m.
In Leyte, an island in the central Philippines, rescuers use a fridge as an improvised boat to rescue children stranded by the waves, can we see in photos published by the coast guard.
Nalgaeexpected since Thursday, finally hit the main island of the Philippines, Luzon, on Saturday at dawn, accompanied by winds reaching 95 km / h, an hour after making landfall on the sparsely inhabited island of Catanduanes.
As of Saturday morning, the death toll stood at 72, the country’s director of civil protection, Rafaelito Alejandro, announced. He said at least 14 people were still missing and 33 injured.
The previous official death toll was 67.
Rescuers are focusing their efforts on the village of Kusiong, where dozens of bodies were found on Friday.
The heavy rains began Thursday evening in the region. Floodwaters have invaded several towns and villages on the island of Mindanao, carrying trees, stones and mud in their path. Some 500 houses were destroyed.
Soon Manila?
But Nalgae could also affect the capital Manila, warned the Philippine meteorological service.
“Widespread flooding and rain-triggered landslides” are expected in the capital of 13 million people, the bulletin said. There is “minimal to moderate risk of a storm” or huge waves hitting coastal areas.
“Based on our projections, this storm is very strong and we have prepared for it,” said Mr. Alejandro, adding that 5,000 teams of a few rescuers each were ready to intervene.
Residents living in or near the storm’s path are asked to stay home.
The storm hit at the start of a long holiday weekend in the Philippines, where millions of people are returning to their hometowns to pay their respects at the graves of loved ones.
But the coast guard has suspended ferry services in much of the archipelago where tens of thousands of people board boats every day.
More than 7,000 people were evacuated before the storm arrived, according to the civil defense office.
An average of 20 typhoons and storms hit the Philippines each year, killing people and livestock in their path, and ravaging farms, homes, roads and bridges, although the south is rarely affected.
As the planet is affected by global warming, storms and typhoons are becoming more powerful, scientists warn.
At the end of September, the typhoon noru killed at least 10 people in the Philippines, including five rescuers. The tropical storm megiwhich hit the country in April, killed at least 148 people and caused massive landslides.