Scene of devastation in General Luna, on the Philippine island of Siargao, after Typhoon Rai hit on December 17, 2021 (AFP / Kate Hughes)
At least 108 people have been killed in the Philippines during Typhoon Rai, the strongest to hit the country this year, according to official counts released on Sunday, as relief efforts try to deliver food and water to the devastated islands.
The governor of the tourist island of Bohol (center), Arthur Yap, announced that 72 people had died in his province, according to data communicated by the mayors.
In the Dinagat Islands, the head of the press for the province, Jeffrey Crisostomo, told AFP 10 more dead.
This brings the number of reported deaths to 108, according to the latest official figures, making Rai one of the deadliest typhoons in recent years in the Philippines.
The toll could increase as rescue teams reach the areas devastated by the typhoon.
Photo taken on December 18, 2021 by the Philippine Coast Guard shows a woman searching for belongings in the ruins of her home in the town of Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte province, after Typhoon Rai (Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP / Handout)
The cyclone, accompanied by winds reaching 195 km / h, crossed the central and southern Philippines on Thursday and Friday, blasting roofs, tearing utility poles and cutting off communications, before heading out to sea on Saturday. from southern China.
Aerial photos made public by the army showed considerable damage in the regions crossed. Some 300,000 people have had to flee their homes.
Thousands of military, police, coast guard and firefighters have been deployed to the worst affected areas to assist in search and rescue operations.
Army and Coast Guard ships were dispatched to bring water, food and medicine. Heavy machinery arrived to clear the roads blocked by trees and electricity poles.
A resident searches for personal belongings in debris after Typhoon Rai hit the Philippine city of Surigao on December 17, 2021 (AFP / Erwin MASCARINAS)
“It will be a long and difficult road for people to rebuild and take charge of their lives,” said Alberto Bocanegra, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the Philippines.
The organization appealed to raise 20 million Swiss francs (19.3 million euros) to fund emergency relief and reconstruction efforts.
An overview of the affected areas showed “very clearly that our fellow citizens have suffered greatly in terms of destroyed homes and agricultural losses,” lamented Mr. Yap, the governor of Bohol.
Thousands of gallons of water were delivered after power cuts across the island disrupted water filling stations, Yap added.
– 20 tropical storms per year –
The islands of Siargao, Dinagat and Mindanao have also suffered significant destruction.
Aerial footage released by the military shows severe damage in the town of General Luna on the island of Siargao, where surfers and vacationers had flocked for the holiday season, with roofs torn off and debris littering the ground .
Tree uprooted in Naga in Cebu province in the Philippines after Typhoon Rai hit on December 17, 2021 (AFP / Alan Tangcawan)
On the island of Dinagat, the damage is “equivalent if not worse” to that caused by the 2013 super-typhoon Haiyan, according to the governor of the province, Arlene Bag-ao.
Haiyan, called Yolanda in the Philippines, was the deadliest cyclone in the country, killing 7,300.
“I saw how Typhoon Odette (local name of Rai, editor’s note) tore the provincial capital apart, piece by piece,” Mr. Crisostomo, press officer for Dinagat province, told DZBB radio station.
“Tables as heavy as a man flew under the violence of the storm,” he added.
In the town of Surigao, at the northern end of the island of Mindanao, shards of glass from shattered windows, corrugated roofing sheets, power lines and other debris were strewn in the streets.
Rai poured down torrential rains, uprooted trees and destroyed wooden structures. It was off the coast of Vietnam on Sunday and was heading north.
Rai is a particularly late typhoon in the season. Most tropical cyclones in the Pacific Ocean form between July and October.
Electric poles overturned on a road in Surigao town in the middle of which a sign asking for food was put up on December 19, 2021, after Typhoon Rai hit (AFP / Ferdinandh CABRERA)
Scientists have long warned that typhoons get stronger and stronger as global warming accelerates.
The Philippines, ranked among the countries most exposed to climate change, is swept by nearly 20 tropical storms or typhoons each year which typically destroy crops, homes and infrastructure in already poor regions.
© 2021 AFP
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