Death toll due to 'Tino' tops 100 as Philippines digs out after typhoon

CEBU, November 6 ------ The death toll from Typhoon Tino (international name: Kalmaegi) in the central Philippines climbed past 100 as the devastating impact on Cebu province became clearer after the worst flooding in recent memory.

According to the latest data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Thursday morning, the death toll is now at 114.

• Cebu — 71

• Antique — 1

• Capiz — 1

• Iloilo — 1

• Bohol — 1

• Leyte — 1

• Southern Leyte — 2

• Negros Occidental — 18

• Negros Oriental — 12

• Agusan del Sur — 6

Floodwaters described as unprecedented had rushed through the province's towns and cities a day earlier, sweeping away cars, riverside shanties and even massive shipping containers. Cebu spokesman Rhon Ramos told AFP that 35 bodies had been recovered from flooded areas of Liloan, a town that is part of provincial capital Cebu City's metro area.

On neighboring Negros Island, at least 12 people were dead and 12 more were missing after Tino's driving rain loosened volcanic mudflow which then buried homes in Canlaon City, police Lieutenant Stephen Polinar said. "Eruptions of Kanlaon volcano since last year deposited volcanic material on its upper sections. When the rain fell, those deposits rumbled down onto the villages," he told AFP. Only one Negros death had been included in an earlier government tally of 17 deaths outside Cebu. That figure included six crewmembers of a military helicopter that crashed while on a typhoon relief mission.

AFP reporters spoke with residents of Cebu's most-affected areas on Wednesday as they cleaned up streets that had been rivers a day before. "Around four or five in the morning, the water was so strong that you couldn't even step outside," said Reynaldo Vergara, 53, adding that everything in his small shop in Mandaue had been lost when a nearby river overflowed. "Nothing like this has ever happened. The water was raging."

In nearby Talisay, where an informal settlement along a riverbank was washed away, AFP found 26-year-old Regie Mallorca already at work rebuilding his home. "This will take time because I don't have the money yet. It will take months," he said as he mixed cement and sand atop the rubble. The area around Cebu City was deluged with 183 millimeters (seven inches) of rain in the 24 hours before Tino's landfall, well over its 131-millimetre monthly average, weather specialist Charmagne Varilla told AFP. On Tuesday, provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro called the situation "unprecedented" and "devastating".

Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful due to human-driven climate change. Warmer oceans allow typhoons to strengthen rapidly, and a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, meaning heavier rainfall. In total, nearly 800,000 people were moved from the typhoon's path.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com