Most of the victims of the storm Nalgae died in landslides and floods on Friday in Mindanao, an island in the south of the archipelago, after heavy rains. “We have shifted from a search and rescue operation to a rescue operation because the chances of survival after two days are almost zero,” said Naguib Sinarimbo, in charge of civil defense in the Bangsamoro region of Mindanao. The storm hit the main island of Luzon during the night of Saturday to Sunday, sweeping everything in its path and causing power outages. Manila and neighboring cities suffered flooding. Nalgae then moved away Sunday afternoon into the South China Sea.

On average, 20 typhoons and storms hit the Philippines each year, killing people and livestock in their path, and devastating farms, homes, roads and bridges, although the south is rarely hit. The death toll could rise again, with the National Disaster Management Agency still reporting 63 people missing in its latest report. Several dozen people have been injured.

“The worst”

As rescue teams searched for more bodies amid the mud and debris, storm survivors continued the harrowing cleanup of their flood-damaged homes. In the municipality of Noveleta, south of Manila, residents were clearing muddy water from their homes and shops, drying their furniture and belongings on the now sunny streets. “In a lifetime of living here, this is the first time we’ve experienced this kind of flooding,” observed Joselito Ilano, 55, whose house was waist-deep in water. “I’m used to floods here but this one was simply the worst, I was taken by surprise.”

Perfidia Seguendia, 71, and her family lost all their belongings except for the clothes they were wearing as they fled their home to their neighbor’s two-story house. “Everything was flooded: our refrigerator, the washing machine, the motorcycle, the TV, everything,” Perfidia Seguendia told AFP. “All we managed to do was cry because there is nothing we can do. We couldn’t save anything. Only our lives.”

Nalgae swept through the disaster-prone country, flooding villages, destroying crops and knocking out power in many areas. It hit the Philippines in the middle of the All Saints’ Day long weekend, which is Tuesday, a time when millions of Filipinos travel across the country to visit the graves of their loved ones. And as the storm moved away from the country toward the South China Sea on Monday, state meteorologists in the Philippines warned that a tropical depression was headed toward the country. Heavy rains could again fall on areas severely affected by Nalgae.

In recent years, landslides and flash floods in mountainous areas affected by deforestation have been among the deadliest consequences of storms in the Philippines. In April, deadly landslides and flooding from another tropical storm hit farming and fishing communities in the central province of Leyte hard. As the planet is affected by global warming, storms and typhoons become more and more powerful, scientists warn.

Sciences et Avenir with AFP