One person died and three others were missing in the southern Philippines after being hit by a landslide, taking the nationwide death toll to 33.
Tens of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes as heavy rain submerged rural villages, towns and highways on Christmas Day, dampening festivities on the most important holiday in the mainly Catholic nation.
Authorities were still searching for more than two dozen other people missing after heavy downpours over the Christmas weekend causing flooding and landslides across central and southern regions.
The latest death happened on Wednesday in Mati City in the province of Davao Oriental on Mindanao island when a landslide buried four people as they fished, the police said.
The body of a 62-year-old man was recovered and the search for his companions was still underway, Mati City police chief Ernesto Gregore told AFP.
“There was a heavy downpour in the mountains. They were fishing in a river when the landslide occurred,” Gregore said.
The state weather forecaster said moderate to heavy rains were likely across southern and central regions on Wednesday and Thursday due to a low-pressure area off the coast that could develop into a tropical depression.
The weather bureau said: “Flooding and rain induced landslides are likely, especially in areas that are highly susceptible to these hazards.”
The disaster agency said relief efforts were underway to help people in areas hit hard by the flooding, as more than 81,000 people sheltered in evacuation centres.
The weather turned bad over the weekend as the disaster-prone nation of 110 million people prepared for a long Christmas holiday.
Hundreds of homes have since been destroyed and more than 5000 hectares (12,400 acres) of crops wiped out by rains that have forced tens of thousands of people to evacuation centres, the national disaster agency said. The Philippines is ranked among the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change, and scientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer.
Source: News24, Channel News Asia, Business Recorder, Eyewitness News, image from Twitter: @QNAEnglish