Landslides and floods killed 24 people in the Philippines
Officials reported on Monday that at least 24 people were killed in landslides and floods in the central and southern Philippines as tropical cyclone Megi dropped heavy rain and hampered traffic ahead of the Easter holidays.
As the storm battered the region last day, flooding houses, inundating farms, shutting off highways, and knocking out electricity, more than 13,000 people rushed to emergency shelters, according to the national disaster agency.
24 people have died as a result of landslides and flooding in the Philippines.
According to Baybay City disaster officer Rhyse Austero, the central province of Leyte was among the most impacted, with landslides killing 21 people in four villages.
The three individuals killed on Mindanao’s major southern island have now been added to the death toll on Leyte, according to the national disaster service.
Several houses in Bunga, one of the devastated communities in Leyte, are submerged in mud up to the roofs, according to photos shared on Facebook and confirmed by AFP.
“The rain was so heavy yesterday, it was nonstop for more than 24 hours,” Hannah Cala Vitangcol, a local, told AFP.
After waking up to discover adjacent homes covered in an avalanche of mud, the 26-year-old teacher escaped to a motel with her family on Monday.
“I was sobbing because I knew the folks who were buried there, and I was terrified since there were mountains behind our house,” she explained.
People were evacuated from their homes in the flooded town of Abuyog by the Philippine Coast Guard and police, who carried them into floating boats on orange stretchers.
– In 2022, the first significant storm –
Tropical Storm Megi, locally known as Agaton in the Philippines, is the first significant storm to reach the disaster-prone country this year.
As a result of the rough waves, several of ports were forced to close, stranding roughly 6,000 passengers at the start of one of the busiest travel seasons of the year.
After dropping most Covid-19 restrictions in February, the Philippines reopened to fully vaccinated travellers from most nations, and Easter is a major vacation for domestic tourists.
The storm arrives four months after a mega typhoon wreaked havoc throughout the archipelago country, killing over 400 people and displacing hundreds of others.
Officials earlier stated that Rai, the fiercest typhoon to hit the Philippines last year, strengthened quicker than projected.
Scientists have long warned that as the globe warms due to human-caused climate change, typhoons would strengthen more quickly.
Every year, the Philippines, which is one of the most vulnerable countries to its effects, is slammed by an average of 20 storms.
Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines in 2013, was the strongest typhoon to ever make landfall, killing or missing nearly 7,300 people.
