Hour by hour, the human toll caused by Typhoon Rai is increasing. This Monday, December 20, it rose to 208 dead in the Philippines, said the national police. This powerful natural phenomenon is therefore becoming one of the deadliest in recent years in the country.
At least 239 people were injured and 52 are missing as a result of Rai’s devastating passage through the southern and central regions of the archipelago, the national police added. More than 300,000 people fled their homes Thursday as the typhoon made landfall in the center of the country.
The Philippine branch of the Red Cross has reported “complete carnage” in coastal areas.
The storm ripped roofs, uprooted trees, knocked down utility poles, demolished wooden houses and flooded villages – reminiscent of “super typhoon” Haiyan that hit the archipelago in 2013. Called Yolanda in the Philippines, Haiyan was the deadliest cyclone on record in the country, killing more than 7,300 or missing.
An aid fund set up
One of the islands hardest hit by Rai is Bohol – known especially for its tarsiers, a primate endemic to the archipelago – where at least 80 people have died, said provincial governor Arthur Yap, who updates his own record on his Facebook page.
President Rodrigo Duterte visited some affected areas on Saturday and pledged an aid fund of two billion pesos (35 million euros).
Rai is particularly late in the season. Most tropical cyclones in the Pacific Ocean form between July and October.
Scientists have long warned that typhoons get stronger and stronger as global warming accelerates. The Philippines, ranked among the countries most exposed to climate change, is swept by nearly 20 tropical storms or typhoons each year which typically destroy crops, homes and infrastructure in already poor regions.
