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More than 650 dead in Philippine floods, hundreds still missing
by: AFP
THE death toll from mammoth floods unleashed in the Philippines by tropical storm Washi has climbed to 652 with 808 others missing, the Red Cross said .
The devastated port cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in Mindanao island accounted for most of the deaths, the agency said.
It said 652 people were dead and 808 remained missing after the storm hit the south late Friday but more fatalities were likely to be confirmed in the coming days.
''The affected area is so wide and huge and I believe they have not really gone to all areas to do a search. Also, many of the houses were washed out so that means the houses and the bodies were displaced,'' said Gwen Pang, secretary general of the Philippine National Red Cross.
''We are only counting the actual dead bodies that were sent to funeral parlors,'' she said, warning many more bodies could still be found.
Heavy rain from Washi on the southern island of Mindanao led to flash floods, swollen rivers and landslides, with the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan particularly hard hit.
''This thing happened so fast, it was very overwhelming. It happened in the evening when people were sleeping,'' said Pang.
''People were saying they were really unprepared. They didn't know it would hit them to this extent,'' she said.
Fortunately, the waters receded quickly, in contrast to floods in the northern Philippines, which could last for weeks or even months, Ms Pang said.
Almost 35,000 people remained huddled in evacuation centers after the storm, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.
Rescue and relief efforts were hampered by power outages in many areas including Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities as well as by damaged and destroyed bridges, the council said.
An average of 20 storms and typhoons, many of them deadly, hit the Philippines annually.
However, most of the storms strike the northern regions. The southern areas were usually spared so people in the south were unprepared for Washi's fury, government relief officials said.
Washi, which crossed Mindanao and some central islands ysterday, hit the western island of Palawan before dawn today and has continued moving west into the South China Sea, the government weather station said.
The storm, packing maximum winds of 80km/h, is forecast to move westward, away from the Philippines, at 24km/h.
About 20,000 soldiers had been mobilised in a huge rescue and relief operation across the stricken north coast of the island of Mindanao, where the main ports of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan were worst hit.
Cagayan de Oro city reported 215 dead, and nearby Iligan city lost 144 residents, Ms Pang told AFP.
Iligan mayor Lawrence Cruz described rampaging floodwaters from swollen rivers that swamped up to a quarter of the land area of the city of 100,000.
"It's the worst flood in the history of our city," Mr Cruz told GMA television. "It happened so fast, at a time when people were fast asleep."
The station showed dramatic pictures of a family escaping out of the window of their home in the town as the floods rose, and rescue workers in orange vests shepherding survivors to safety above chest-deep waters.
President Benigno Aquino expressed concern at the extent of the tragedy and ordered government agencies to map out areas in the country most vulnerable to future flash floods.
"These areas will be at risk every year ... The first (step in) mitigation has to be relocation from these areas," he said in a meeting with senior civil defence officials.
Benito Ramos, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council tsaid Mindanao residents were warned about the dangers posed by the storm days earlier but elected not to move to safer areas.
He said Mindanao was rarely visited by storms, even as 20 big storms strike the Philippines annually, with most hitting Luzon, the largest and most populous island in the Southeast Asian archipelago.
"We expect huge damage, especially on agriculture," Mr Ramos said.
Marlyn Manos, an Iligan resident, recounted how she and her children watched in terror from their rooftop as the floodwaters swallowed up the neighbourhood.
"All the small houses behind ours were destroyed, and many of my neighbours are missing," she said.
Iligan tourism officer Pat Noel told AFP waters began rising shortly before midnight (1600 GMT Friday) as people slept, sweeping houses made of light materials and their inhabitants along the riverbanks.
"Many of them told me they sought refuge on their rooftops," he said after joining the first wave of rescuers at daybreak.
Two of the three rivers that flow into the port of Iligan had overflowed, he added, and a popular radio commentator was among those killed.
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TYPHOON SENDONG HIT IN THE PHILIPPINES(12-17-11)by rodyan1540,659 views
God not existed. Go to YouTube and watch the: HAARP documentary . Para matoto ka what happened to the flood to the philippines.
Bagatan63 1 month ago