At least one person has died and seven are missing in the eastern Philippines after torrential rains, caused by the approach of Tropical Storm Trami, caused flooding, authorities reported this Wednesday.
In the central province of Masbate, One person died after being hit by a falling tree branch, while seven people were reported missing.including three men who were fishing on the high seas and who did not return.
HE The Philippine government closed public schools and government offices (except those needed for disaster response) on the main island of Luzon to protect millions of people as Trami approaches land.
Philippine Meteorological Agency predicted that the storm will hit the coast of the province of Aurora this Wednesday nightand then crossing north towards the island of Luzon before heading to the South China Sea later in the week.
At least 32 thousand people were evacuated to emergency shelters in the northeastern provinces and storm warnings were issued in more than two dozen northern and central provinces, including the capital, Manila.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Junior called for a emergency meeting at military headquarters to discuss disaster mitigation efforts.
During the meeting, the Secretary of Defense, Gilberto Teodoro, said that Military planes and ships were to be used for evacuations. and disaster response, adding that the Philippines could ask for help from friendly countries, including Singapore.
“People have been trapped on the roofs of their houses for several hours”former Vice President Leni Robredo, who lives in the northeastern city of Naga, said on social media. “Many of our rescue trucks stopped due to flooding,” he lamented.
The coast guard has been rescuing residents of flooded villages in the Philippines’ eastern provinces since Tuesday, but regional authorities said the number of boats and rescue personnel was not sufficient.
Thousands of passengers and cargo workers were stranded in several sea ports after the coast guard suspended ferry services between the islands of the archipelago and prohibited fishing boats from venturing into the sea.
The governor of neighboring Quezon province, Angelina Tan, said that Floods in some areas reach up to three meters. and that at least eight thousand inhabitants were evacuated from coastal communities.
About 20 storms and typhoons hit the Philippines every year.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record in the world, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, leveled entire towns, swept boats inland, and displaced more than five million people in the central Philippines. .
Source: Observadora
