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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Tropical storm kills at least 100 in Philippines
Villagers wade in floodwater in the town of Salvador in the Philippines’ Lanao del Norte province yesterday. Photo: EPA
/ Reuters, MANILA
A tropical storm in the southern Philippines triggered mudslides and flash floods that killed more than 100 people, while dozens are missing, police and disaster officials said yesterday.
The casualties, most of them caused late on Friday, were all on the main southern island of Mindanao, they said, adding that three provinces were hardest hit.
Disaster officials said many residents had ignored warnings to leave coastal areas and riverbanks.
“Many people were swept to the sea as flood waters quickly rose due to the high tide,” disaster agency official Manuel Luis Ochotorena said. “They never heeded the warnings. They thought it was a weak storm, but it dumped more rains.”
Hundreds of kilometers to the east, army and emergency workers were checking reports that an entire village was buried by a mudslide in Tubod, a town in Lanao del Norte.
Power and communication lines to the area had been cut, complicating rescue efforts, local official Ryan Cabus said.
The weather bureau said the storm had gathered strength over the Sulu Sea and was packing winds of up 80kph and moving west at 20kph.
It was heading out over the sea by midday yesterday and would have moved clear of the Philippines by tomorrow, it said.
Emergency workers, soldiers, police and volunteers were being mobilized to search for survivors, clear debris, and restore power and communications.
More than 100 deaths were reported in various places including 60 in the towns of Tubod, El Salvador and Munai in Lanao del Norte province.
In Zamboanga del Norte province, police said 42 people were killed in the towns of Sibuco and Salug.
Three people were killed in Bukidnon province, while politicians in Lanao del Sur province said 18 people drowned in flash floods there.
Sixty-four people were reported missing in floods and landslides, according to a tally of reports form officials and police.
The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons every year, bringing death and destruction, usually to the poorest communities.
Last week, 46 people were killed in the central Philippines when a typhoon hit.
In 2013, super typhoon Haiyan killed nearly 8,000 people and left 200,000 families homeless.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
