President of the Philippines Benigno Aquino III declared a state of national calamity after the country suffered a week of heavy rains and severe flooding following Typhoon Melor, claiming 35 lives.
Flood in Candaba town, Pampanga province, north of Manila. (Source: AFP)
Hanoi (VNA) - President of the Philippines Benignoಌ Aquino III declared a state of national calamity after the country suffered a week ofꦉ heavy rains and severe flooding following Typhoon Melor, which claimed 35 lives.
The declaration will hasten the rescue, recovery, relief and rehabilitation efforts in accordance with pertinent operational plans and directives.
According to the government weather bureau, weakened Typhoon Melor turning into a tropical depression has caused heavy rains in Central Visayas, South Mindanao and South Luzon where large agriculture cultivating areas have been flooded.
The country is likely to plunge deeper into floodwaters. Evacuation order might be made to residents in Central Cebu, Negros and Bohol as rainfall in those regions is forecasted to amount to 30 milimetres every hour.
Meanwhile, nearly 10,000 people have to evacuate from rural areas in Mindanao before a new storm, named Onyok, landed in the country on December 18.
The Philippines is hit by about 20 storms every year. In October, Koppu hurricane made landfall in the country, killing 54 people and making thousands flee.
In 2013, super Typhoon Haiyan flattened most of the communities in the central region and left at 7,350 people dead or missing.-VNA
More than 700,000 people in the central Philippines have evacuated to safe areas for fear of huge waves, flood and landslides as tropical storm Melor hit the country on December 14
The Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control on December 15 asked authorities of coastal localities from central Da Nang city to southern Ca Mau province to brace for storm Melor.
Typhoon Melor on early December 16 entered the East Sea to become the fifth storm impact Vietnam so far this year, after traversing the central Philippines.
A new tropical storm, locally called “Onyok”, is heading to the southern part of the Philippines on December 18, local authorities said on December 17.
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Flood in Candaba town, Pampanga province, north of Manila. (Source: AFP)
