Floods, landslides claim 436 in Philippines

Dec 17, 2011, 15:59 GMT

Manila - More than 400 people were killed and 162 missing Saturday in devastating floods and landslides triggered by a tropical storm in the Philippines, military and disaster relief officials said.

Tropical Storm Washi slammed into the southern region of Mindanao on Friday, bringing heavy rains that caused many rivers to overflow. The floods were worsened by high tides, local officials said.

Worst hit were the southern cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, where 359 bodies have been recovered, according to Gwen Pang, secretary general of the Philippine National Red Cross.

Pang said the death toll was based on figures from funeral parlors. She added that 162 people were still missing in the two coastal cities.

The floods hit overnight while residents were sleeping, said Iligan City Mayor Lawrence Cruz.

'We were all surprised,' he told a local television station. 'The people were already sleeping when the flash floods came.'

Cely Asinero, a resident of Cagayan de Oro, told a local radio station that she and her family were awakened by the sound of the rushing floodwaters, which reached heights of almost 10 metres.

'It was so loud,' she said. 'We tore off the roof of my brother's house, which was the tallest in our village. We could have drowned if we weren't able to get to the roof.'

Roman Pino, a 29-year-old father of two, also rushed his family to the roof of their house to escape the muddy floodwaters.

'It was pitch black all around us,' he recalled. 'We prayed so hard that we will be spared. We were only able to go down six hours later and we saw many dead bodies.'

Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman said many of the dead in the coastal cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro were swept into the sea with their houses.

'Those on the riverbanks were actually washed out to sea,' she said.

Local television footage showed houses swept away by the floods or destroyed as debris smashed into them. Dozens of vehicles were piled up on many streets.

Trees and electric posts were toppled and residents clambered on to their roofs for safety.

The Red Cross also recorded 47 killed in the southern province of Bukidnon; 21 on the central island of Negros; and eight in the southern provinces of Compostella Valley, Zamboanga del Norte and Surigao del Sur.

The Office of Civil Defence said more than 16,000 people had been displaced by Washi, locally called Sendong.

Soliman said President Benigno Aquino III, who expressed alarm over the high death toll, ordered the distribution of 'Christmas packs' to the displaced residents, on top of the usual relief goods.

'The president ordered us to give them grocery items to make spaghetti and fruit salad to give them some sense of Christmas,' she said.

The weather bureau said Washi was packing maximum winds of 60 kilometres per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 90 kph. It was expected to exit the Philippines on Monday.