The passage of a typhoon in the Philippines left at least 33 dead, the country’s authorities said on Saturday (18).
Typhoon Rai hit the southern and central regions of the Pacific archipelago on Thursday (16) with winds of up to 195 km/h.
More than 300,000 people were forced to leave their homes and hotels by the sea. Upon entering Philippine territory, the typhoon lost intensity, with winds of up to 150 km/h, but even so left a trail of destruction: trees and poles were torn down, wooden houses were damaged, there were flooding and access to telecommunications was cut in some regions.
The typhoon also caused flight cancellations and paralyzed activities in ports. Authorities decided to postpone the start of a mass vaccination campaign because of the storm.
About 18,000 police, military, lifeguards and firefighters were mobilized in the search for survivors, told AFP Mark Timbal, spokesman for the national disaster agency.
Photos released by the Philippine Army show houses that lost their roofs and rubble scattered through the streets in the city of General Luna, a resort that receives many surfers and tourists during the end of the year festivities.
In Surigao, the typhoon cut communications and destroyed wooden structures. Images released by the Coast Guard show damaged houses, uprooted palm trees and flooded rice fields.
The island of Dinagat was also “razed to the ground” by the storm and had houses, boats and land destroyed, informed Governor Arlene Bag-ao on a social network.
Dinagat deputy governor Nilo Demerey told local broadcaster ABS-CBN that residents “are working to repair their homes as even the evacuation centers have been destroyed.” “They have nowhere to shelter, everything is destroyed,” he said.
Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap told DZBB radio that “families are isolated on their roofs” and appealed for help as flooding hampered search efforts. “All of us [socorristas] here we were affected,” he said.
“This is one of the most powerful storms to hit the Philippines in a month of December in the last decade,” Alberto Bocanegra, head of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in the country, told the AFP news agency. “The information we receive and the images we receive are alarming.”
Rai hit the Philippines late, as the Asian country’s typhoon season typically runs from July to October. This is the 15th typhoon to hit the country this year, and also one of the deadliest.
The scientific community warns that climate change makes typhoons stronger, increasing their potential for destruction. Therefore, the Philippines is one of the countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis.
On Saturday, Typhoon Rai had already left the Philippines and was in the South China Sea, advancing towards Vietnam.
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