A fierce tropical storm has torn through the Philippines’ mountainous north, in a a week which has already seen floods and landslides claim at least 25 lives.
Typhoon Co-may struck the town of Agno in Pangasinan province Thursday night with winds reaching speeds of 120 kilometres (74 miles) per hour. By Friday afternoon, as it moved northeast, the typhoon had weakened slightly.
Co-may struck after seasonal monsoon rains drenched a vast part of the country for over a week. More than a dozen additional tropical storms are expected to strike the Southeast Asian nation before the end of the year, forecasts show.
At least 25 deaths have been reported since last weekend, mostly due to flash floods, toppled trees, landslides, and electrocution, according to officials. A further eight people have been reported missing.
Schools in the capital, Manila, remained closed for the third consecutive day on Friday, with classes also suspended in 35 provinces across the main northern region of Luzon. Over 80 towns and cities, mostly in Luzon, have declared a state of calamity, enabling quicker access to emergency funds and the freezing of prices on essential goods.
The weather has forced 278,000 people to seek refuge in emergency shelters or with relatives. According to the government’s disaster response agency, close to 3,000 homes have suffered damage.
Thousands of military personnel, police officers, coast guard members, firefighters, and civilian volunteers have been deployed to assist in rescuing residents.
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Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited emergency shelters Thursday in Rizal province to help distribute food packs to displaced residents. “Everything has changed,” Marcos said.
He subsequently called an emergency meeting with disaster-response officials, warning that both the government and the public need to adapt to the increasing frequency and unpredictability of natural disasters due to climate change.
The United States has pledged to provide military aircraft to assist in transporting food and other aid to remote areas if weather conditions deteriorate further.
The Philippines is struck by around 20 typhoons and storms every year and frequently experiences earthquakes and volcanic activity, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.
