At least 24 people have been killed in the north-eastern Philippines after Tropical Storm Trami caused flooding and landslides.
The toll is expected to rise as towns and villages isolated by the storm manage to send out reports.
Widespread flooding and landslides have left at least 24 people dead after Tropical Storm Trami hit the north-eastern Philippines on Thursday.
The government shut down schools and offices for the second day on the entire main island of Luzon to protect millions of people after the storm hit the country’s north-eastern province of Isabela after midnight.
The storm was blowing over Aguinaldo town in the mountain province of Ifugao after dawn, with sustained winds up to 95 kilometres per hour and gusts up to 160kph.
It was blowing westward and on track to enter the South China Sea later on Thursday, according to state forecasters.
Most of the deaths were reported in the six-province Bicol region, south-east of Manila, where at least 20 people died, including seven residents in Naga city, which was inundated by flash floods during Trami’s approach on Tuesday.
The toll is expected to rise as towns and villages isolated by the storm manage to send out reports, police and provincial officials said.
More than two months’ worth of rainfall fell in just 24 hours at high tide, regional Police Chief Andre Dizon and other officials said.
While thousands of villagers who were trapped in floodwaters have been rescued by government forces, many more needed to be saved on Thursday in the Bicol region, including some on roofs.
About 1,500 police officers have been deployed for disaster-mitigation work, Chief Dizon said.
“We can’t rescue them all at once because there are so many and we need additional motorboats,” Chief Dizon told The Associated Press by telephone.
“We’re looking for ways to deliver food and water to those who were trapped but could not be evacuated right away.”
Flash floods swept away and submerged cars in some parts of Naga city while mudflows from Mayon, one of the country’s 24 active volcanoes, in nearby Albay province, engulfed several vehicles, Chief Dizon said.
Stormy weather remained in the region, hampering relief efforts, officials said.
The government’s disaster-mitigation agency said more than 2 million people were affected by the storm, including 75,400 villagers who were displaced from their homes and are sheltering on safer ground.
About 20 storms and typhoons batter the Philippines each year.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones in the world, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing and flattened entire villages.
