By: EFE
By: EFE
At least 208 people have died and 52 remain missing in The Philippines as a result of the onslaught of Typhoon Rai, that hit the central region of the archipelago between Thursday and Saturday, the Philippine National Police reported.
According to the official report, the most affected province is Central Visayas with 129 deceased , followed by the Caraga region with 41 Deaths, Western Visayas with 24, North Mindanao with 7, Eastern Visayas with 6 and one death in Zamboanga.
The typhoon, which made landfall on Thursday with winds of up to 240 kilometers per hour, crossed from east to west through some nine islands where it has caused significant damage to homes and infrastructure, in addition to leaving at least 239 injured, picks up the GMA channel.
The International Federation of the Red Cross warned on the eve of the devastation of many areas of the country, where more of 442,400 people have been displaced by the typhoon according to the National Council of Management and Disaster Risk Reduction (NDRRMC).
“The Red Cross teams are reporting complete devastation in coastal areas (…) Homes, hospitals, schools and community buildings have been destroyed,” said the president of the Red Cross in the Philippines, Richard Gordon.
The figure of the Police takes an important jump with respect to the data confirmed by the NDRRMC, which in its last update this morning estimated at 58 the dead and 18 the disappeared, in addition to 199 injured.
The NDRRMC noted that Rai damaged 3, 800 damaged homes, as well as 227 localities without electricity and 41 affected roads and 4 damaged bridges .
The onslaught of the typhoon, known as Odette in the country and the fifteenth to reach the Philippines this year, has passed through some nine islands where has ripped off roofs and damaged numerous buildings.
The typhoon, which made landfall on Thursday with winds of up to 239 kilometers per hour, left the Philippines on Saturday after causing flooding and landslides, cutting off communications in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.
Many provinces, including Cebu, Bohol and Guimaras, have been declared disaster areas due to the damage suffered.
An average of 20 Typhoons hit the Philippines every year and the most destructive was the super typhoon Haiyan, the largest in recent Philippine history and which in November 800 struck the islands of Samar and Leyte, killing about 7, 000 people and leaving 200, 000 homeless families.
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