More than 180 people were reported killed in the southern Philippines on Saturday as heavy rains from tropical storm Tembin caused floods and mudslides that wiped out homes.
Tembin struck just days after tropical storm Kai-Tak pounded the central Philippines, leaving at least 45 people dead and 46 missing, according to data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC).
Officials said the death tolls are likely to rise as dozens are still missing.
The NDRRMC has yet to issue an official casualty count from Tembin. Thousands of families have been displaced.
An NDRRMC official said the council has received reports from regional branches of the Office of Civil Defense and the Department of Interior and Local Government, “but these are subject to validation and verification by the NDRRMC.”
Information from the police earlier placed the number of fatalities in Zamboanga Peninsula at 46 with 28 missing after flash floods hit villages in five coastal towns in the region.
In Lanao Del Norte, where a landslide hit a mountain village near Tubod town and floods ravaged other parts of the province, officials reported at least 43 fatalities.
Lanao Del Sur, still reeling from the five-month battle to liberate Marawi City from Daesh-linked militants, reported at least 18 fatalities.
Five people were reported killed in Bukidnon and one in Iligan City.
The death toll is expected to rise as responders have yet to reach some of the hardest-hit areas, local officials said.
Responders, including military and police, are having to remove rocks, boulders and debris using shovels and their bare hands in their search-and-rescue operations in landslide- and mudslide-affected areas.
Maj. Ezra Balagtey, spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines — Eastern Mindanao Command, said military community support and anti-terror teams have been deployed to undertake disaster response operations in affected areas.
Police said many roads remain impassable and seas have been extremely rough, making it difficult even for navy and coast guard vessels.
Officials gave assurances that they have enough resources to mount full search-and-rescue operations. Tembin is expected to leave the country by Sunday, said the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts that Tembin will head west toward the South China Sea and make second landfall near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Monday.
Kai-Tak affected some 1.7 million people in 2,419 villages and damaged more than 12,000 homes.
The NDRRMC placed the cost of damage from the storm at 1.451 billion Philippine pesos ($28.7 million).

Source:Arabnews