MANILA, Dec 19 (NNN-PNA) – “I can hear the strong wind howling, as it peels off the iron sheets of our house,” Acerns Velasco of Lapu-Lapu City in the central Philippines said, in a Facebook post, seven hours after Typhoon Rai slammed into the country on Thursday.
The strongest typhoon to batter the Philippines this year, swelled rivers and flooded low-lying areas, while cutting through towns and villages, in the central Philippines and northern Mindanao in the southern Philippines. The typhoon has killed up to 31 people.
Out of the 31 reported deaths, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said, only four have been validated. The national police reported at least 19 deaths but did not provide further details.
Gusty winds from the powerful typhoon toppled trees and power lines, as it blew away from the archipelago, yesterday.
Water was chest-high in some places, knee-high in others. Only roofs in some flooded areas remained visible, forcing rescuers to use rubber boats and ropes to evacuate people.
In Bohol, one of the hardest-hit provinces, some residents sat on the roofs of their flooded houses, as they waited for rescuers. People in the affected areas have difficulty in contacting their relatives, due to the cut of telecommunication and power lines.
Bohol Governor, Arthur Yap, lamented that the breakdown of communications makes it difficult to make a rapid assessment of the typhoon.
Yap said, the local government has moved more than 13,000 families to evacuation centres from critical areas. “But throughout the night and into yesterday morning, this number has swelled, as the devastation was great and all-encompassing,” he added.
Yap said yesterday that, he had signed an executive order, declaring a state of calamity in the entire province “due to the severity of the destruction.”
Dinagat Islands Governor, Kaka Bag-ao said, typhoon Rai “levelled the island province to the ground,” cutting power and communication lines. “We have lost our homes. Wall and roofs were torn and blown away like paper,” Bag-ao said.
Public work crews of the affected areas worked hard to clear the roadways of fallen trees and debris, restore the power and communication lines.
Lawmaker, Francisco Matugas, from Siargao del Norte said, almost all of Siargao Island’s population, including tourists, experienced the fierce and destructive winds, adding that, the island, a famous tourist destination for surfers, was “totally devastated.”
Rai made landfall on the island on Thursday afternoon. It was blowing maximum winds of 195 km per hour and with gusts of up to 240 km per hour, when it slammed into Siargao.
Assistant Secretary, Jusan Vincent Arcena, of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said, his hometown, Siargao “is unfortunately devastated by the typhoon. I’m worried about their safety. I can’t even contact my relatives and local government units because of the situation here and on the island.”
Landslides and flash floods are common across the Philippines during the rainy season, especially when typhoons hit.
The World Bank said, natural disasters have killed 33,000 Filipinos in the past thirty years, and 120 million people adversely affected.– NNN-PNA
