Death toll rises in deadly Philippines storm – Irvine Times

US forecasters have raised the rare possibility Trami, the 11th and one of the deadliest storms to hit the Philippines this year, could make a U-turn next week as it is pushed by high-pressure winds in the South China Sea.

A Philippine provincial police chief said on Friday that 49 people had been killed, mostly in landslides triggered by Trami in Batangas province south of Manila. This brings the storm’s death toll to at least 82.

Eleven other villagers remain missing in Batangas, Col. Jacinto Malinao said.

The storm was last tracked Friday afternoon, blowing 255 miles west of the northwestern Philippine province of Ilocos Sur with sustained winds of up to 59 mph and gusts of up to 78 mph. It was moving northwest at 19 mph toward Vietnam, which is expected to be hit by Trami starting Sunday if it stays on course.

However, the Philippine Meteorological Agency said it was possible that high-pressure winds and other weather factors in the South China Sea could cause the storm to turn back toward the Philippines.

President Ferdinand Marcos, sounding exasperated, asked about that prospect at an emergency meeting with Cabinet members and disaster response officials on Friday about the response to the widespread devastation.

“What’s the prognosis for this? Is it possible to return? Mr. Marcos asked.

A government forecaster told him that Trami could turn towards the western Philippines early next week, but it was more likely to blow away from the Philippines again without making landfall.

“It doesn’t have to make landfall for damage to occur,” Mr Marcos said, citing the ongoing downpours triggered by Trami in the Philippines.

He also cited another brewing storm in the Pacific that could threaten the country again.
“Oh my God, it is what it is. We just have to deal with it,” Mr Marcos said.

State forecaster Jofren Habaluyas told The Associated Press that Trami’s possible U-turn has drawn interest among government weather experts in Asia, including those in Japan, who are providing information to the Philippines to help track the storm.

The death toll rose to 65 after five were earlier reported dead in floods and landslides in hard-hit Bicol, an agricultural region and tourist destination southeast of Manila that is popular for Mayon, one of the country’s 24 most active volcanoes which has an almost perfect taper.

Nine storm deaths were caused by floods and landslides in Batangas, a coastal resort province south of Manila that was soaked by heavy rains over the past two days, according to police, who said they were still gathering details of the deaths.

Although Trami did not become a typhoon, it dumped unusually heavy rains in some regions, including some that received one to two months’ worth of rainfall in just 24 hours, inundating communities with flash floods.

Officials in the city of Naga, where 11 people drowned, and the outlying provinces of Camarines Sur and Albay called for more rescue boats amid the onslaught to reach people trapped on the upper floors of their homes or on their roofs when floodwaters rose.

At the foot of Mayon Volcano in Albay province, mud and other debris flowed toward nearby towns as the storm swept in, engulfing houses and cars in mudflows.

More than 2.6 million people have been affected by the flood, with nearly 320,000 fleeing to evacuation centers or the homes of relatives, disaster mitigation officials said.

The government closed schools and government offices on the main northern island of Luzon. Inter-island ferry services were also suspended, stranding thousands.

In Vietnam, government forecasters warned of heavy rain in the central region. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chin ordered coastal provinces to remain vigilant, closely monitor Trami’s course and prepare for contingencies.

Last month, Typhoon Yagi hit Vietnam, killing 323 people and causing massive damage estimated at more than three billion dollars, according to a Vietnamese government report.

Each year, about 20 storms and typhoons hit the Philippines, a Southeast Asian archipelago that lies between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea.

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing and flattened entire villages.