MANILA (Reuters) – Manila and neighboring towns prepared on Saturday for Tropical Storm Nalge, which killed 45 people mainly due to landslides in the southern Philippines.
The Southeast Asian country’s disaster management agency cut the death toll from 72 to 45 after confirming reports from ground staff, including rescue workers searching for 18 missing people.
Residents of the capital’s coastal areas have been evacuated and classes at all levels have been suspended, according to the mayor’s office.
Manila Mayor Hany Lacuna Phangan on Saturday ordered the closure of the city’s cemetery, which was expected to attract millions of visitors over the extended All Saints Day weekend.
A tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers (60 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 130 kilometers (80 miles) per hour made multiple landfalls in the eastern Philippines on Saturday.
The state meteorological agency warned of widespread flooding and landslides in the latest bulletin, as the Nalge blew through the mainland of Luzon and into the South China Sea, bringing heavy rains, sometimes torrential rains, to the metropolitan area and neighboring provinces.
The airline has canceled 116 domestic and international flights to and from the Philippines’ main gateway. Nearly 7,500 passengers, drivers, cargo helpers and 107 vessels were stranded at the port, according to the Coast Guard.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Twitter that government agencies are providing aid and food packs to affected families.
According to photos shared by authorities, coast guard officers ushered residents in chest-high floods while rescuers used monoblock plastic chairs and old refrigerators to help children and the elderly in central Leyte province. I carried
Most of the deaths, at 40, were reported in southern Maguindanao.
“We’re not discounting the possibility of more casualties,” Maguindanao state administrator Cyrus Trena told DZMM radio station. “But I hope it doesn’t go up significantly.”
The Philippines experiences an average of 20 tropical cyclones per year. In December, Category 5 Typhoon Rai hit the Chubu region, killing 407 people and injuring more than 1,100.
Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales.Editing by Chris Reese and William Mallard
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