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MANILA – The death toll from severe tropical storm Kompasu has climbed to 19 while 13 people are still missing, the government said today.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said the death toll could rise to 30, adding that it is verifying reports of 11 other deaths and one missing from landslides and flooding in the northern Philippine regions and Palawan, an island province off Luzon island, reported the Xinhua news agency.
The tropical storm, which exited the Philippines on Tuesday, triggered flash floods and landslides. Nearly 2,000 people were evacuated to safety.
The damage was heaviest in the northern Philippine regions, the agency said. Damage to agriculture there is estimated at US$9.7 million (RM40.27 million).
Kompasu, which made landfall on Monday, is the 13th tropical cyclone to lash the Philippines this year.
Typhoons and tropical storms regularly batter the Philippine archipelago – which straddles the typhoon belt in the western Pacific Ocean – claiming hundreds of lives and causing billions of dollars in damages.
About 20 typhoons enter the Philippines each year. Of the islands that make up the Philippines, northern Luzon and the eastern Visayas in the central Philippines are the most commonly affected. – Bernama, October 14, 2021