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Toll from Philippines storm soars to 41 amid heavy downpours

Saturday, 19 December 2015 5:42 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 19 December 2015 5:43 AM ]

Philippine children use a refrigerator as a boat to cross a flooded alley in Candaba, Pampanga, north of Manila on December 18, 2015. ©AFP

Heavy rains hit the entire Philippines, raising death toll from flooding to 41 and forcing the government to declare a state of “national calamity.”

President Benigno Aquino declared the state of emergency on Saturday in an effort to “hasten the rescue, recovery, relief and rehabilitation efforts,” the government said.

In Luzon, the largest and most populous island in the northern Philippines, more than 140,000 people already displaced by Typhoon Melor remained in evacuation centers.

Philippine vendors eat their lunch as they wait for customers at a flooded market in Candaba, Pampanga, north of Manila on December 18, 2015. ©AFP

Melor, a category 3 typhoon which is equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane, made landfall in the central Philippines on Monday. It died out in the South China Sea on Thursday, but left a trail of destruction of agriculture and infrastructure.

“Almost the entire Philippines is experiencing rains. More floods are possible,” state weather forecaster Robert Badrina told reporters on Saturday, adding that “we expect the rains to peak today.”

According to the US-based weather forecaster AccuWeather, a tropical rainstorm is approaching the Philippines and threatening to cause additional flooding and disruptions to cleanup and rescue efforts from Typhoon Melor.

A boy uses a towel to cover himself from rain caused by Typhoon Melor as he crosses a flooded street outside their homes in suburban Navotas, north of Manila, Philippines, on December 16, 2015. ©AP

The country’s weather bureau has issued a warning, forecasting up to 30 millimeters of rain to fall per hour in the central islands of Cebu, Negros and Bohol, where tens of thousands of residents were advised to be on alert for possible evacuation.

Melor caused the cancellation of schools and universities in areas affected by the storm and also led to numerous travel delays and flight cancellations.

Most of the areas hit by Melor are still reeling from floods brought by Typhoon Koppu in October.

People use umbrellas on a pedestrian bridge during a slight rain brought about by Typhoon Melor at suburban Taguig city, southeast of Manila, Philippines, on December 16, 2015. ©AP

The Philippines is hit by about 20 typhoons a year, making it one of the most typhoon-prone countries on Earth.

Melor joins Maysak, Noul, Soudelor, Goni, Mujigae and Koppu in the list of significant typhoons to have battered the Southeast Asian country this year.

In 2013, typhoon Haiyan killed more than 6,300 people and left 1.4 million homeless.

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