Philippines: death toll rises after devastating super-Typhoon Rai
Typhoon Rai devastated parts of the Philippines.
AP - Jay Labra
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
At least 33 people have been killed by the most powerful typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, and several dozen more are missing, authorities said on Saturday, who reported "alarming" destruction on the islands. who suffered the worst of the storm.
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Rai was called a "super-typhoon" when it made landfall Thursday, on the tourist island of Siargao, accompanied by winds of 195 km / h.
“
Everything was flying, it was as if it was the end of the world,
” testified Raphy Repdos, a tour operator visiting the island at the time of the storm.
More than 300,000 people have had to flee their homes since Thursday because of the typhoon that devastated the south and center of the country, according to the National Agency of Natural Disasters of the Philippines.
It crossed the northern popular tourist destination of Palawan Island in late Friday afternoon with winds of 155 km / h according to the National Meteorological Agency, before heading away towards the South China Sea. , in the direction of Vietnam.
Aerial photos shared by the military showed extensive damage in the town of General Luna, where many surfers and vacationers had flocked before Christmas, with buildings without roofs and debris littering the ground.
"
The walls and roofs have been torn down and blown away like paper
"
The neighboring island of Dinagat was "
wiped out
" by the storm, Governor Arlene Bag-ao wrote on Facebook, adding that houses, boats and fields had been destroyed.
“
The walls and roofs were ripped off and blown up by Odette like paper,
” he said, using the local name for the typhoon.
“
This is one of the most powerful storms to hit the Philippines in December over the past decade,
” said Alberto Bocanegra, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Cross Societies. Red Crescent in the Philippines.
"
The information we receive and the images we receive are very alarming
."
►Also read: Super-Typhoon Rai hits the Philippines, tens of thousands of people flee
More than
18,000 soldiers, police, coast guard and firefighters
will join search and rescue efforts in the most affected regions, announced Mark Timbal, spokesperson for the national disaster agency.
The toll was increased after the announcement of the disaster manager of the central province of Negros Occidental, who confirmed the death of 13 people, most of them by drowning, and the disappearance of 50 others in an area affected by the floods.
(
with
AFP
)
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