Rescue teams in the Philippines are diving into lakes and searching remote villages in an urgent effort to find dozens of people missing after Tropical Storm Trami, which has claimed at least 100 lives.
In Batangas province, located south of Manila, the death toll has climbed to 55, according to provincial police chief Jacinto Malinao, who spoke to News Agency.
Tropical Storm Trami, which made landfall in the Philippines on October 24, is among the deadliest storms to hit the nation this year.
Read more: Death Toll Climbs to 76 as Tropical Storm Trami Devastates Northern Philippines
The national disaster agency reports that 36 individuals remain unaccounted for since the storm, which forced over half a million people to evacuate.
In the central Philippines’ Bicol region, which bore the brunt of the storm, police have reported 38 fatalities, mainly due to drowning.
“We continue to receive calls for help and are doing everything possible to rescue people,” Bicol regional police director Andre Dizon told AFP, expressing hope that further fatalities could be avoided. Dizon added that numerous residents in Camarines Sur remain stranded on rooftops and upper floors of their homes.
In separate incidents, two people died from electrocution and drowning in Cavite province, as reported by local police.
With additional bodies being recovered, the combined toll from police and disaster agencies stands at 100.
Edgar Posadas, a spokesperson for the Civil Defence Office, warned that the death toll may rise as rescue teams gain access to previously isolated areas.
Clearing weather over the weekend has aided rescue and cleanup operations in affected regions.
On Sunday, police, coastguards, and a marine diving team were searching Taal Lake in Batangas for a family of seven still missing.
In Batangas, most fatalities resulted from landslides triggered by heavy rains. Over 20 bodies have been recovered from mud, boulders, and debris, while an additional 20 people are still missing, according to local police.
The Philippines experiences around 20 major storms annually, causing widespread damage to infrastructure and resulting in loss of life. In September, Tropical Storm Yagi claimed 11 lives when it struck the country.
A recent study has highlighted that storms in the Asia Pacific are now forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly, and lingering longer over land due to climate change.
