Manila. The death toll from the devastating floods and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Trami that hit the Philippines last week has risen to 116, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of the Philippines said. Apart from this, there is news of 39 people missing. Local officials were quoted as saying that Typhoon Trami caused heavy rains that continued for two months, affecting more than 6.7 million people in 17 regions of the country. Storm Trami, the 11th storm to hit the Philippines this year, spread across the Philippines in no time. It left a trail of destruction with devastating floods and landslides across the island of Luzon, especially the Bicol and Calabarzon regions, and areas of the central and southern Philippines. Flood waters have caused extensive damage to highways and bridges.
Transport came to a standstill and mud accumulated in people’s homes in residential areas. Three days after the storm ended on Friday, disaster victims are still desperately waiting for food and clean water. Many areas lack potable water or electricity. Some victims who were forced to leave their homes during the flood started returning on Saturday after the flood’s impact subsided. However, the NDRRMC said about 1 million displaced people were still in evacuation centers or living with relatives. Trami caused damage to infrastructure amounting to 1.54 billion pesos (about US$26.35 million), while agriculture caused damage to the tune of 2.5 billion pesos (about $43 million).
The Philippines is expected to receive heavy rainfall under the influence of another tropical cyclone, Kong-Re, which intensified into a severe tropical storm over the Philippine Sea about 755 km east of Luzon island on Monday morning. Kong-Ray is the 12th tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines this year. Storm Kong-Re is moving in the west direction at a speed of 20 km per hour, with a maximum speed of 95 km per hour. Along with this, strong winds of up to 115 km per hour are blowing in it. The Bureau warned that this tropical cyclone could intensify rapidly. Let us tell you that on an average 20 storms occur in the Philippines every year.