At least 32,000 people fled their homes in the northern Philippines this Wednesday, October 23, as Storm Trami, which has already killed fourteen people, approaches Luzon, the country’s main island, police reported.
Torrential rains caused by Storm Trami have already transformed streets into rivers, submerged entire towns and buried cars up to their doors in volcanic flows in the Camarines Sur region.
Fourteen people died, most of them drowned. At 2:00 p.m. (local time), the eye of Trami was located 160 kilometers east of the province of Aurora, on the island of Luzon, with winds that remained at a maximum of 85 kilometers per hour, according to the meteorological agency. national. Trami is expected to make landfall near the northeastern coastal city of Divilacan at 11 p.m. (local time).
32,000 people evacuated
At least 32,000 people have had to evacuate as the storm heads toward the country’s northeast coast. In the Bicol region, about 400 kilometers southeast of the capital Manila, “heavier than expected” flooding complicated rescue operations, police said. Rescuers waded through chest-deep water to help residents.
“We sent police rescue teams, but they had difficulties entering certain areas due to the magnitude of the flood and the strength of the current,” regional police spokesperson Luisa Calubaquib told AFP.
One person drowned inside a bus swept away by water in the town of Naga, where three other people also drowned, Bryan Ortinero, a police officer, told AFP. Another was killed by a falling tree branch, Manila’s civil protection office said.
Torrential rains caused by the storm turned streets into rivers, submerged entire towns and buried some vehicles up to their door handles in volcanic sediment released by the torrential rains.
A feeling of helplessness
“It’s getting dangerous, we’re waiting for help,” resident Karen Tabagan told AFP. In the city of Naga alone, located about 4 km from Bato, half of the 600 villages were completely submerged by floods.
“The worst is yet to come,” Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said Wednesday morning during an emergency meeting of disaster management agencies.
“I feel a little helpless (…) all we can do is wait, hope and pray that there is not too much damage,” he continued. Families evacuated from the Bicol region have found shelter in some 2,500 evacuation centers across the region.
“There was also a lahar flow in Albay due to the rains,” the police spokesman said, referring to a muddy flow of volcanic origin emanating from the Mayon volcano. The Philippines is periodically hit by storms or typhoons, causing damage and dozens of deaths each year.
Source: BFM TV