Philippines: Bopha storms killed 900 people

According to the latest statistics released on December 6, more than 250,000 people have lost their homes, 477 people have died and about 380 people are still missing after two days of super typhoon Bopha landed in the Philippines.

Rescue work and searching for missing people, stabilizing temporary shelter for those who have lost their homes are taking place very urgently. Schools, sports centers and office buildings have been temporarily mobilized as storm shelters.

The body of the storm victim in New Bataan town,
Compostela valley, southern Philippines on December 5.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino has instructed the authorities to send supplies and supplies such as food and medicine to residential areas on the East Coast of Mindanao, where there are three towns with about 150,000 inhabitants. isolated due to landslides and seriously damaged traffic infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the international community has also quickly expressed solidarity with the people and Government of the Philippines. The United States, Japan and Singapore reported emergency relief and sent a rescue team to Mindanao.

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent offered $ 4.9 million in aid and warned that in the coming days the number of people in need would increase. The Government of the Philippines also asked the Swiss-based International Migration Organization to assist in emergency mobile homes to support disaster victims.

Bopha stormed the Eastern Mindanao coast from December 4, bringing heavy rain and strong winds, leaving more than 87,000 people evacuated to emergency shelters. This is the sixth storm and the biggest storm to hit the Philippines this year.

On average, the Philippines suffers from about 20 storms each year. In December 2011, Typhoon Washi raged in Mindanao, killing more than 1,200 people and leaving hundreds homeless.