JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Widespread flooding and landslides triggered Thursday by a tropical storm in the northeastern Philippines killed at least 24 people, swept away cars and prompted authorities to use speedboats to rescue trapped villagers, some on their roofs .
The government closed schools and offices – except those urgently needed for disaster response – across the main island of Luzon to protect millions of people after Tropical Storm Trami hit the northeastern province of Isabela after midnight.
On Thursday afternoon, the storm began moving away from the coast of the northwestern Philippine province of Ilocos Sur towards the South China Sea, with sustained winds of up to 95 km/h and gusts of up to 115 km/h. According to state forecasters, it was blowing southwest and could develop into a typhoon over the South China Sea.
In this flyer photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, rescuers carry a resident trapped in their homes after floods caused by Tropical Storm Trami, locally called Kristine, hit their village in Libon, Albay Province, Philippines on Wednesday, October 23, 2024. ( Philippine Coast Guard Coastal via AP)AP
At least 24 people have died, mostly by drowning, in the hard-hit Bicol region and nearby Quezon province, but the death toll is expected to rise as towns and villages isolated by floods and roads blocked by landslides and fallen trees send out reports, police say. provincial officials said.
Most of the storm’s death toll was reported in the six-province Bicol region southeast of Manila, where at least 21 people died, including eight in the city of Naga, which was inundated by flash floods as Trami approached on Tuesday, leaving more than two months of garbage rainfall totals in just 24 hours during high tide, regional police commander Brig. Gen. Andre Dizon and other officials said.
While thousands of villagers stranded in floodwaters were rescued by government forces, many more had to be rescued in the Bicol region on Thursday, including some from their rooftops. Dizon said about 1,500 police officers were deployed to mitigate the disaster.
A man walks past damage caused by flash floods on Thursday, October 24, 2024, after Tropical Storm Trami, locally called Kristine, dumped heavy rains in the city of Libon in Albay province in the Philippines. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)AP
A resident walks next to a truck covered in volcanic mud that flowed from Mayon Volcano after heavy rains caused by Tropical Storm Trami, which hit the town of Guinobatan in Albay province, Philippines, on Wednesday, October 23, 2024. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)AP
The government’s disaster mitigation agency said the storm affected more than 2 million people, including 75,400 rural residents who were displaced from their homes and took refuge in safer places.
More than 1,000 homes were damaged, mostly in the Bicol region, and nearly 300 roads and bridges were impassable due to flooding, landslides or fallen trees, the government’s disaster relief agency said.