MANILA – The death toll from Christmas Day rains in the southern Philippines rose to 13 on Tuesday, according to authorities, with 23 people still missing as floodwaters began to subside.
The majority of the deaths were caused by drowning in flash floods, according to the disaster service, after two days of torrential rainfall disrupted Christmas celebrations and drove more than 45,000 people to seek refuge in evacuation shelters.
Social media images depict members of the coast guard, police, and fire department wading through waist-deep floodwaters and transporting civilians through landslide-affected neighborhoods. Some roadways were inundated due to adjacent rivers’ overflowing banks.
Carmelito Heray, chief of the disaster agency in Clarin town, Misamis Occidental province, told DZBB radio station that rescue operations continued and agricultural damage was being examined.
There was no tropical storm on the most important festival of the predominantly Catholic nation. However, a shear line, a region where warm and cold winds meet, prompted the formation of rain clouds in the southern Philippines.
The mayor of the municipality of Clarin, Emeterio Roa, claimed on the radio that the greatest loss of life was caused by the loss of adult pigs, chickens, goats, and cows.
»13 deaths are now attributed to Christmas rains and floods in the Philippines«