Update | 53 killed in Philippines, 21 dead in Malaysia as storms trigger floods and landslides
Among those who died was a family of 11 whose creek-side house was washed away by a flash flood in Cebu. Six other people were missing in the same town.
Flash floods and mudslides have killed at least 53 people in the central and southern Philippines, the national disaster agency said today, after days of heavy rains that have also hit neighbouring Southeast Asian countries.
Tropical Storm Jangmi, packing winds of 65 kilometres per hour and gusts of 80 km/h, dumped heavy rains on Monday on the southern island of Mindanao, where floods destroyed bridges and highways, sending thousands of residents to evacuation centres.
The storm then pushed its way through eastern and central islands on Tuesday, where most of the deaths occurred, including in areas still recovering from last year’s Typhoon Haiyan.
More than 86,000 people in Surigao del Sur, Bohol and Cebu provinces were evacuated.
The storm’s latest death toll was nearly triple that of the last major storm to hit the country, Super Typhoon Hagupit, earlier this month.
Among those who died was a family of 11 whose creek-side house was washed away by a flash flood in Cebu. Six other people were missing in the same town.
Meanwhile, at least 21 people have been killed and eight others are missing after the worst flooding in decades across Malaysia’s northeast, with almost a quarter of a million people displaced.
