50 people died of typhoons in the Philippines

Tropical storm Washi swept across the southern Philippines today, causing widespread flooding and killing at least 50 people. The path of this storm is expected to sweep across the southernmost tip of Vietnam.

45 people are confirmed drowned in the southern island of Mindanao, including 40 people in Iligan City. 5 others died in a landslide in the east of the island, AFP quoted Benito Ramos, executive director of the National Disaster Management and Mitigation Council. A resident of Cagayan de Oro is missing. There are also reports that the death toll has reached nearly 60 people.

Iligan's mayor Lawrence Cruz described floodwaters from rivers that inundated at least 10 villages around the periphery of the city."It was so fast, when people were sleeping," Cruz said. Local television broadcast emotional images of a family trying to escape from their windows when floodwaters rise, while lifesavers in orange shirts lead survivors to safety. in the deep water to the chest.

Location and path of the storm

The Philippine army dispatched 20,000 troops to support rescue and evacuation work on the large island of Mindanao, where the storm center passes, "The storm is moving slowly so it poured a huge amount of rain into the area Mindanao, " said Ramos, adding that the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Dipolog, and Iligan have a total population of about 700,000 people inundated.

Rain with a rainfall of about 25mm has continuously fallen in the last 24 hours, causing the water levels to rise and quickly flooding in low areas."The storms rarely attack the area, so people may be subjective even if they know Washi is approaching," Mr Ramos said.

The official currently has no data on the number of evacuees, as the authorities are still focusing on rescue efforts. The regional authorities are also examining reports of landslides in the eastern hills of Mindanao Island, the Philippines' granary.

The weather forecaster said mind storm Storm Washi went through the dawn city of Dipolog today. This storm is currently heading straight to the Sulu sea area. The vast western part of Palawan Island is located directly on the path of the storm with a wind force of about 65km / hour.

The Philippines suffered about 20 major annual storms. Most of these go into Luzon, the largest and most populous island of the Southeast Asian island nation. The two super typhoons Nesat and Nalgae repeatedly attacked the Philippines in the last days of September, killing more than 100 people.