Philippines storm death toll climbs to 182

Officials said the tropical storm in the south of the country unleashed flash floods that swept away people and houses and set off landslides, leaving at least 153 people missing.

A policeman carries a young girl as he wades through a flooded street in Cagayan City on December 22, 2017, after the Cagayan River swelled caused by heavy rains brought by Tropical Storm Tembin.
AFP

A policeman carries a young girl as he wades through a flooded street in Cagayan City on December 22, 2017, after the Cagayan River swelled caused by heavy rains brought by Tropical Storm Tembin.

A tropical storm in the Philippines triggered mudslides and flooding that killed at least 182 people, with 153 people still missing, police said on Saturday.

The casualties, most of them inflicted late on Friday, were all on the main southern island of Mindanao as rescuers pulled dozens of bodies from a swollen river, police said.

Tropical Storm Tembin has lashed the nation's second largest island of Mindanao since Friday, triggering flash floods and mudslides.

Rescuers retrieved 36 bodies from the Salog river in Mindanao on Saturday, as officials reported more fatalities in the impoverished Zamboanga peninsula.

"Many people were swept to the sea as flood waters quickly rose due to the high tide," Manuel Luis Ochotorena, a disaster agency official, said. "They never heeded the warnings. They thought it was a weak storm but it dumped more rains."

TRT World's Ben Said has more.

Loading...

Disaster amid Christmas celebrations

The weather bureau said the Tropical Storm Tembin had gathered strength over the Sulu Sea and was packing winds of up 80 kph (50 mph) and moving west at 20 kph.

It was heading out over the sea by mid-day on Saturday and would have moved clear of the Philippines by Monday, it said.

Emergency workers, soldiers, police and volunteers were being mobilized to search for survivors, clear debris, and restore power and communications.

"The floodwaters from the mountain came down so fast and swept away people and houses," said Mayor Bong Edding of Zamboanga del Norte province's Sibuco town. "It's really sad because Christmas is just a few days away, but these things happen beyond our control."

Prone to typhoons

The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons every year, bringing death and destruction, usually to the poorest communities of the poor Southeast Asian country.

Last week, 46 people were killed in the central Philippines when a typhoon hit.

In 2013, super typhoon Haiyan killed nearly 8,000 people and left 200,000 families homeless.

Route 6