Philippines death toll passes 650 with hundreds missing

Typhoon Washi victims who were rendered homeless after their houses were swept away by flashfloods rest in an evacuation centre in Cagayan de Oro in southern Philippines yesterday. Photograph: Erik De Castro/Reuters

The death toll from a storm that ravaged a wide swathe of the Philippines has risen to 652, with 900 others still missing.

Philippine Red Cross secretary-general Gwendolyn Pang said that flash floods set off by Tropical Storm Washi killed 346 people in Cagayan de Oro city and 206 in nearby Iligan city. Deaths were also reported in five other southern and  central provinces.

Ms Pang said more people have reported missing relatives, including 447 in Iligan and 347 in Cagayan de Oro.

Tropical Storm Washi blew away today after devastating a wide swathe of the mountainous region on Mindanao island, which is unaccustomed to major storms.

Most of the victims were asleep on Friday night when flash floods cascaded down mountain slopes with logs and uprooted trees, swelling rivers and killing at least 652 people.

The late-season tropical storm turned the worst-hit coastal cities of Cagayan de Oro and nearby Iligan into muddy wastelands filled with overturned cars and broken trees.

Most of the dead were children and women, Ms Pang said.

Hundreds of Philippine Red Cross volunteers were taking part in a huge rescue and relief operation on Mindanao to bring aid to the thousands affected.

A spokesman said: “The Philippine Red Cross relief goods are underway for disaster-stricken families in Mindanao as situation assessment goes on in various affected areas and the number of casualties continues to rise.”

Defence secretary Voltaire Gazmin and top military officials flew to Cagayan de Oro and Iligan to help oversee search-and-rescue efforts and deal with thousands of displaced villagers.

Among the items urgently needed are coffins and body bags, said Benito Ramos, who heads the government’s disaster response agency.

“It’s overwhelming. We didn’t expect these many dead,” said Mr Ramos, adding that authorities were continuing to find bodies floating at sea.

Although the disaster-prone Philippines is lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms annually, the devastation shocked many, coming close to Christmas. Army officials in the south said they cancelled Christmas parties and would donate the food to homeless survivors.

Mr Ramos attributed the high casualties “partly to the complacency of people because they are not in the usual path of storms” despite warnings by officials that one was approaching.

In just 12 hours, Washi dumped more than a month of average rain on Mindanao.

Thousands of soldiers and hundreds of local police, reservists, coast guard officers and civilian volunteers were mobilised for rescue efforts, but were hampered by flooded-out roads and lack of electricity. Rescuers in boats rushed offshore to save people swept out to sea.

AP 

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