Rescuers search for bodies after a landslide triggered by tropical storm Trami hit houses in Talisay, Batangas province, Philippines, Saturday, October 26, 2024. AARON FAVILA / AP After the storm passed tropical Trami in the Philippines, the death toll rose to at least 97 deaths on Saturday, October 26, according to a count from Agence France-Presse (AFP) based on local official figures. A previous report reported 87 deaths. Rescuers are still trying to help people stranded in areas made inaccessible by the floods. Nearly half a million residents have been displaced by floods caused by torrential rains which devastated hundreds of communities in the northern Philippines, the National Disaster Agency said on Saturday. “Calls for help continue to come in,” Andre Dizon, the police director of the hard-hit Bicol region, 400 kilometers south of Manila, the capital, told AFP. Police recorded thirty-one deaths in this region, most of them due to drowning. Residents were trapped on the roofs and upper floors of their homes, officials told AFP. “We must rescue them as soon as possible. We are being told that children are already falling ill,” added Mr. Dizon. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Climatic disasters are one after another and unleashed on all continents Add to your selections Landslides and blocked roads Marcelino Aringo stands above a damaged house after a landslide triggered by tropical storm Trami that recently hit Talisay, Philippines, Saturday, October 26, 2024. AARON FAVILA / AP Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos s He arrived Saturday in the province of Camarines Sur, in the Bicol region, where food and drinking water are increasingly scarce as some areas remain completely submerged and difficult to access. “Our main problem is that many places are still flooded,” the president told government officials in an exchange. “We have flood control systems, but the amount of water is unmanageable. It’s climate change. This is new so we need solutions as well,” Mr. Marcos added. In Batangas, two hours south of the capital, the death toll rose to 54, according to the provincial police chief, Jacinto Malinao. There, rescuers use shovels and backhoes to dig through mud to a height of three meters, in a desperate search for the missing from these landslide-affected areas. AFP journalists who visited the province on Friday saw roads blocked by felled trees, vehicles half-submerged in mud and badly damaged houses. The Philippines is regularly hit by storms or typhoons, causing damage and dozens of deaths each year. But storms in the Asia-Pacific region are forming closer to shore, intensifying faster and lasting longer on land due to climate change, experts say. Also listen Are there more hurricanes because of global warming? Le Monde with AFP Reuse this content
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