Floods in Philippines claim 20 lives

Manila: Twenty people were killed in flash floods, landslides after heavy rains in four regions in southern Luzon and the central Philippines from February 12 to 17, the national disaster office said in a report on Thursday.

More than 26,346 families or 123,651 people were displaced, the report said.

Four days of inclement weather resulted in the destruction of agricultural products and infrastructure such as roads and bridges.

Losses were estimated at 305.4 million peso (Dh27.6 million), the report said, adding that floods have not subsided four days after the incidence.

The destructive flashfloods and landslides had affected a wide area which included 322 villages, eight provinces and four regions in central and the southern Philippines, the report said.

The rising waters that destroyed roads and bridges buried several farm lands, isolated many villages, and trapped residents, the report said.

Assistance

An estimated assistance worth 832,345 peso was sent by various government agencies such as the NDCC, the social welfare department and the local government units, to the affected areas such as Mindoro in southern Luzon; Sorsogon and Catanduanes in the Bicol region in southern Luzon; Capiz, Samar, Biliran, Leyte, and Panay in central Philippines.

A state of calamity was declared in the eastern Samar.

Military planes sent 4,000 kg of used clothings, 1,000 packs of food and 800 sacks of rice to all the affected areas, the NDCC said.

Two army battalions were deployed to undertake rescue operations and the evacuation of displaced families.