Philippine officials on Monday said at least eight people had died, mostly due to flooding caused by heavy rains in southern provinces, as Christmas celebrations were suspended for thousands of residents who had been forced to evacuate. reported.
Social media images show rescue workers helping residents after two days of moderate to heavy rain in the central and southern Philippines, flooding them chest-deep.
In its latest bulletin, the National Disaster Management Agency reported eight casualties, five of them drowning and 19 missing. Six of his eight deaths died in the mountainous and coastal provinces of Misamis Occidental.
On Monday, nearly 46,000 people were displaced into shelters, according to social services data.
“We need food. Our homes and animals were washed away by the flood,” Misamis Occidental resident Estella Tararuk told DZRH radio station. “There was nothing left. There were no clothes.”
An archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, the Philippines experiences an average of 20 tropical cyclones per year. The Southeast Asian country has also been hit by adverse weather conditions such as monsoon rains that cause deadly landslides and floods and damage crops.
