Kristine death toll hits 100
(UPDATE) RESCUERS in the Philippines dived into a lake and scoured isolated villages on Sunday to locate dozens of missing people as the death toll from Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (International name «Trami») hit 100.
Kristine, which rammed into the Philippines on October 24, was among the deadliest storms to hit the country this year.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the storm forced more than half a million people to flee their homes, and at least 36 remain missing.
Police in the hardest-hit Bicol Region recorded 38 deaths, most due to drowning.
Bicol regional police director Andre Dizon told Agence France-Presse said «many residents» in Camarines Sur were still trapped on roofs and the upper floors of their homes.
The death toll in Batangas has risen to 55, provincial police chief Jacinto Malinao told AFP.
«A higher death toll is possible in the coming days since rescuers can now reach previously isolated places,» said Edgar Posadas of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).
AdvertisementThe police, coast guard and a Marines diving team were searching on Sunday for a family of seven at Taal Lake in Batangas.
«The waters from the mountains hit their home in Balete town, causing it to be swept away with them possibly inside,» Malinao said.
More than 20 bodies were pulled from heaps of mud, boulders and fallen trees, while police said at least another 20 people in the province are still missing.
«We will continue searching until all bodies are retrieved,» Malinao said.
AdvertisementThe national disaster agency said Sunday that about 560,000 people had been displaced by floods, which submerged hundreds of villages in swaths of the northern Philippines.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., over the weekend, assured that government systems are in place to help those affected by Kristine, particularly in the Bicol Region.
The President turned over P50 million to Albay acting governor Glenda Ong-Bongao and P30 million to Naga City Mayor Nelson Legacion.
Another P50 million was given to the Camarines Sur provincial government to supplement relief efforts.
AdvertisementFour trucks of rice from the National Food Authority and Food
