OF THE
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Philippine rescuers waded through chest-deep flood waters Wednesday to reach residents trapped by Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami), which has killed seven people and forced thousands to evacuate as it barrels toward the east coast.Update October 24
Torrential rain driven by the storm has turned streets into rivers, submerged entire villages and buried some vehicles in volcanic sediment set loose by the downpour.
At least 32,000 people have fled their homes in the northern Philippines, police said, as the storm edges closer to the Southeast Asian country's main island of Luzon.
In the Bicol region, about 400 kilometers (249 miles) southeast of the capital Manila, "unexpectedly high" flooding was complicating rescue efforts, said police.
At least 24 people killed in north-eastern Philippines as Tropical Storm Trami causes flooding and landslidesUpdate October 25
Widespread flooding and landslides have left at least 24 people dead after Tropical Storm Trami hit the north-eastern Philippines on Thursday.
The government shut down schools and offices for the second day on the entire main island of Luzon to protect millions of people after the storm hit the country's north-eastern province of Isabela after midnight.
The storm was blowing over Aguinaldo town in the mountain province of Ifugao after dawn, with sustained winds up to 95 kilometres per hour and gusts up to 160kph.
It was blowing westward and on track to enter the South China Sea later on Thursday, according to state forecasters.
Most of the deaths were reported in the six-province Bicol region, south-east of Manila, where at least 20 people died, including seven residents in Naga city, which was inundated by flash floods during Trami's approach on Tuesday.
The toll is expected to rise as towns and villages isolated by the storm manage to send out reports, police and provincial officials said.
More than two months' worth of rainfall fell in just 24 hours at high tide, regional Police Chief Andre Dizon and other officials said.
Storm blows away from northern Philippines leaving 82 dead but forecasters warn it may do a U-turnAFP reports:
Tropical Storm Trami blew away from the northwestern Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 82 people dead in landslides and extensive flooding that forced authorities to scramble for more rescue boats to save thousands of terrified people, who were trapped, some on their roofs.
But the onslaught may not be over: State forecasters raised the rare possibility that the storm — the 11th and one of the deadliest to hit the Philippines this year — could make a U-turn next week as it is pushed back by high-pressure winds in the South China Sea.
A Philippine provincial police chief said Friday that 49 people were killed mostly in landslides set off by Trami in Batangas province south of Manila. That brought the overall death toll from the storm to at least 82.
Eleven other villagers remain missing in Batangas, Col. Jacinto Malinao Jr. told The Associated Press by telephone from the lakeside town of Talisay, where he stood beside a villager whose wife and child were buried in the deep mound of mud, boulders and trees.
With the use of a backhoe and shovels, police scrambled to search into 10 feet (3 meters) of mud, rocks and debris and found a part of a head and foot that apparently were those of the missing woman and child.
"He's simply devastated," Malinao said of the villager, a fisherman, whose wife and child were buried in the landslide that happened Thursday afternoon amid torrential rains while he was away tending to fish cages in a lake.
[...]
More than 2.6 million people were affected by the deluge, with nearly 320,000 people fleeing into evacuation centers or relatives' homes, disaster-mitigation officials said.
'Two months' worth of rainUpdate October 28
Government offices and schools across the main island of Luzon remained shuttered Friday, and storm surge warnings were still in place along the west coast, with potential waves as high as two meters.
State weather agency specialist Jofren Habaluyas told AFP that Batangas province had seen "two months' worth of rain", or 391.3 mm, fall over Oct. 24 and 25.
Death toll from tropical storm Trami in Philippines climbs to 116, 39 missingUpdate October 31
The death toll from catastrophic flooding and landslides triggered by tropical storm Trami that slammed into the Philippines last week has risen to 116, with at least 39 people remaining unaccounted for, the Philippines' National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Monday.
Local authorities said Trami dumped two months of rain, impacting over 6.7 million people across 17 of the country's regions.
The search continues for 39 missing people who were either buried in landslides or washed away by the floods.
PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Thursday said his government remained in "full control" as deaths caused by Tropical Storm Trami and Super typhoon Kong-rey, which caused heavy rains in the northernmost province of Batanes, climbed to more than 100.
In a statement, he noted that while state resources and personnel "may be stretched due to the impact of typhoons on multiple fronts," the government was "ably handling all disaster management efforts." "We remain in full control."
In an 8 a.m. report, the Philippines' disaster agency said the reported death toll from Trami, locally named Kristine, and Super Typhoon Kong-rey (Leon) had hit 150. Fourteen deaths have been validated, while 29 people were still missing, it added.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said there were 115 reported injuries. More than 150,000 were damaged, more than 10,000 of which were totally destroyed. Trami and Kong-rey have caused P6.5 billion in damage to infrastructure.
At least 72 people have been killed in the deadliest flooding to hit Spain for three decades after torrential rain battered the eastern region of Valencia, sweeping away bridges and buildings, local authorities said on Wednesday.Update October 31
Meteorologists said a year's rain had fallen in eight hours in parts of Valencia on Tuesday, causing pile-ups on highways and submerging farmland in a region that produces two-thirds of the citrus fruit grown in Spain, a leading global exporter.
Residents in the worst-hit places described seeing people clambering onto the roofs of their cars as a churning tide of brown water gushed through the streets, uprooting trees and dragging away chunks of masonry from buildings.
"It's a river that came through," said Denis Hlavaty, who waited for rescue on a ledge in the petrol station where he works in the regional capital. "The doors were torn away and I spent the night there, surrounded by water that was 2 metres (6.5-feet) deep."
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez promised to rebuild infrastructure that had been destroyed and said in a televised address: "For those who at this moment are still looking for their loved ones, the whole of Spain weeps with you."
Footage shot by emergency services from a helicopter showed bridges that had collapsed and cars and trucks piled on top of each other on highways between flooded fields outside the city of Valencia.
Trains to the cities of Madrid and Barcelona were cancelled due to the flooding, and schools and other essential services were suspended in the worst-hit areas, officials said.
Power company i-DE, owned by Europe's biggest utility, Iberdrola, said about 150,000 clients in Valencia had no electricity.
Emergency services in the region urged citizens to avoid all road travel and to follow further official advice, and a military unit specialised in rescue operations was deployed in some places to help local emergency workers.
Some parts of Valencia such as the towns of Turis, Chiva or Bunol recorded more than 400 mm (15 inches) of rainfall, leading the state weather agency AEMET to declare a red alert on Tuesday. It was lowered to amber on Wednesday as the rain eased.
There was also flooding in other parts of the country, including the southern region of Andalusia, and forecasters warned of more bad weather ahead as the storm moved in a northeasterly direction.
The regional weather service in Catalonia issued a red alert for the area around Barcelona, warning of high winds and hail, while the AEMET state agency placed the city of Jerez in Andalusia on red alert.
"(The floodwaters) took away lots of dogs, lots of horses, they took away everything," said Antonio Carmona, a construction worker and resident of Alora in the southern region.
DEADLIEST SPANISH FLOODS SINCE 1996
The death toll appeared to be the worst in Europe from flooding since 2021 when at least 185 people died in Germany.
It is the deadliest flood-related disaster in Spain since 1996, when 87 people died near a town in the Pyrenees mountains.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X that Europe was ready to help. "What we're seeing in Spain is devastating," she said on X.
ASAJA, one of Spain's largest farmer groups, said on Tuesday it expected significant damage to crops.
Spain is the world's largest exporter of fresh and dried oranges, according to trade data provider the Observatory of Economic Complexity, and Valencia accounts for about 60% of the country's citrus production, according to Valencian Institute of Agriculture Investigations.
Spain floods death toll rises to 158 as rescuers search for survivorsUpdate November 1
The death toll from Spain's worst floods in decades has soared to 158, emergency services and officials say, as rescue services work frantically to find survivors.
The body coordinating rescue work in the eastern region of Valencia announced on Thursday that 155 bodies had been recovered there. Officials in Castilla-La Mancha in central Spain reported two deaths, and Andalusia in the south announced one.
The widespread damage resembled the aftermath of a hurricane or tsunami. Cars were piled on top of one another like fallen dominoes. Uprooted trees, downed power lines and household items were all mired in mud that covered streets in dozens of communities in Valencia. The floods demolished bridges and left roads unrecognisable.
Local authorities have not disclosed how many people are still unaccounted, and Defence Minister Margarita Robles said the final national death toll could be much greater.
Opposition politicians accused the central government in Madrid of acting too slowly to warn residents and send in rescue teams, prompting the Ministry of Interior to say regional authorities were responsible for civil protection measures.
Death toll from Spanish floods rises to 205 as residents appeal for aidTwo days earlier in the nearby Balearic Islands: Stormy night in Mallorca, Spain: Heavy rainfall, flash floods, road closures, 8 rescues and 77 emergency operations
Three days after historic flash floods swept through towns in Spain and killed at least 205 people, the initial shock was giving way to anger, frustration and a wave of solidarity on Friday.
Spanish emergency authorities raised the death toll to at least 205 victims, 202 of them in Valencia alone.
Many streets are still blocked by piled-up vehicles and debris, in some cases trapping residents in their homes. Some places still don't have electricity, running water, or stable telephone connections.
The damage from the storm Tuesday and Wednesday recalled the aftermath of a tsunami, with survivors left to pick up the pieces as they mourn loved ones lost in Spain's deadliest natural disaster in living memory.
Comment: Update October 31
China Daily reports: