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MANILA — Rescue staff battled intermittent heavy rain to achieve many individuals nonetheless lacking Wednesday, three days after Tropical Storm Megi pummeled the nation, inflicting widespread landslides and flooding within the central Philippines.
Hardest hit was the town of Baybay in central Leyte Province, the place landslides buried a distant group, and left 48 folks lifeless as of Wednesday, in keeping with the police. Fifteen others had been swept away by floods in 5 different central and southern provinces and are nonetheless lacking, officers stated.
In all, search and rescue groups had been in search of practically 30 folks nonetheless unaccounted for, officers stated.
Mark Timbal, a spokesman for the Nationwide Catastrophe Danger Discount and Administration Council, stated native officers in Leyte had pre-emptively evacuated many residents in Baybay into areas that had been protected — or so that they thought.
“The landslide reached past the hazard-prone areas,” Mr. Timbal stated in Manila. “A few of the residents had evacuated there and didn’t count on the landslide to achieve that location.”
“We didn’t foresee the devastation led to by this landslide,” he added.
Whereas the storm has moved out of the Philippines, intermittent rains have continued, hampering search and rescue efforts.
Baybay’s mayor, Jose Carlos Cari, stated he feared that the casualty figures may rise. “We’re nonetheless trying to find many individuals lacking,” he stated. “Our responders are wading by means of mud.”
The close by city of Abuyog was additionally hit by a landslide. Floodwaters had receded, however officers stated practically 80 % of 1 village there had been worn out.
“After the landslide, the remaining 20 % of homes alongside the coast had been swamped by a storm surge,” stated Lemuel Gin Traya, Abuyog’s mayor. “It was one big wave.”
All in all, about 9 areas and an estimated 139,000 folks within the Philippines’ jap seaboard had been affected, the catastrophe reduction company in Manila stated.
The Philippines sits on the so-called storm belt, and endures an estimated 20 storms a yr, some devastating.
In December, about 400 folks had been killed when Storm Rai pummeled the central area. And in November 2013, Storm Haiyan slammed the central Philippines, killing hundreds.
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