The search for the missing continued Tuesday in the central and southern Philippines after the passage of Tropical Storm Megi, whose toll rose to 28 dead.
More than 17,000 people fled their flooded homes without electricity. In the province of Leyte, the most affected, at least 22 people died Monday in landslides in several villages, and 27 are missing, according to local authorities.
Three people were also killed in the province of Negros Oriental, and three others on the southern island of Mindanao, said the National Disaster Management Agency.
Images taken using a drone and whose authenticity has been verified by AFP showed a vast flow of red mud along a hill planted with coconut trees, and buried houses in the village of Bunga, near the town of Baybay, in the province of Leyte.
“We’re supposedly in the middle of the dry season, but climate change must have disrupted that,” said Marissa Miguel Cano, a Baybay municipality official.
According to her, landslides sometimes occur in this agricultural region, but the magnitude of those on Monday was surprising.
As the planet is hit by global warming, such typhoons are becoming more powerful, scientists warn.
The search focused on the nearby village of Kantagnos, hit by two landslides that left at least five people dead and an unknown number missing.
According to a local official, several people were pulled alive from the mud, but rescuers feared that several others were still buried.
Double landslide
“There was a small landslide and some managed to run for cover, followed by a bigger one that engulfed the entire village,” Jose Carlos Cari, the mayor of the town, told a local radio station. town of Bay Bay.
“We are looking for many people, there are 210 homes here,” he continued, adding that rescuers’ efforts were hampered by bad weather.
“We’re doing everything we can, but it’s difficult because of the danger,” Cari said. “The equipment is mobilized, everything is ready but we are unable to move forward because it is still raining very hard and the rivers are still in flood,” he added.
The landslides near Baybay occurred “outside the danger zones”, and many residents were taken by surprise as they were in their homes, spokesman Mark Timbal told AFP. National Disaster Management Agency.
Megi, known in the Philippines by its local name Agaton, is the first major tropical storm to hit the country this year, which is frequently hit by natural disasters.
Causing strong waves at sea, it forced dozens of ports to suspend their activities and nearly 8,000 people were stranded before the Easter holidays, one of the major travel periods of the year.
The country had just reopened in February to vaccinated tourists from most foreign countries, after lifting most national COVID-19 restrictions.
The Philippines, ranked among the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, is hit by an average of 20 storms each year.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest to ever make landfall, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing.