MANILA: The death toll from a powerful storm that triggered flooding and landslides across the Philippines has reached 150, disaster officials said Thursday, as more rain was forecast in some of the hardest-hit areas.
More than 355,400 people fled their homes as Severe Tropical Storm Nalgae pounded swathes of the archipelago nation late last week and over the weekend.
Of the 150 deaths recorded by the national disaster agency, 63 were in the Bangsamoro region on the southern island of Mindanao where flash floods and landslides destroyed villages.
At least 128 people were injured and 36 are still missing across the country, the agency said. Authorities have warned there is no hope of finding more survivors.
Mindanao is rarely hit by the 20 or so typhoons that strike the Philippines each year, but storms that do reach the region tend to be deadlier than in Luzon and the central parts of the country.
With more rain forecast Thursday, disaster agencies in Bangsamoro were preparing for the possibility of further destruction in the poor and mountainous region.
“The soil is still wet in areas where flash floods and landslides occurred so further erosion could be instantly triggered,” said Naguib Sinarimbo, regional civil defense chief.
“Waterways and rivers that were in the path of the flash floods are blocked by debris and boulders so they could easily overflow.”
President Ferdinand Marcos has blamed deforestation and climate change for the devastating landslides in Bangsamoro.
He has urged local authorities to plant trees on denuded mountains.
“That’s one thing that we need to do,” Marcos told a briefing this week.
“We have been hearing this over and over again, but we still continue cutting trees. That’s what happens, landslides like that happen.”
Marcos has declared a state of calamity for six months in the worst-affected regions, freeing up funds for relief efforts.
Scientists have warned that deadly and destructive storms are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer because of climate change.
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More rain on the way as Philippine storm death toll hits 150
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More rain on the way as Philippine storm death toll hits 150
- More than 355,400 people fled their homes as Severe Tropical Storm Nalgae pounded swathes of the archipelago nation late last week and over the weekend
China FM wants to work with Canadian counterpart to ‘eliminate interference’
- Wang, who met a slew of Western leaders during the Munich Security Conference, has been eager to paint Beijing as a more stable partner compared to the increasingly unpredictable United States
MUNICH: China’s foreign minister Wang Yi told his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand their two countries should work to “eliminate interference,” as they met on the sidelines of a security conference on Saturday.
Wang, who met a slew of Western leaders during the Munich Security Conference, has been eager to paint Beijing as a more stable partner compared to the increasingly unpredictable United States.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who took office last year, visited China in January as part of his global effort to broaden Canada’s export markets and decrease trade reliance on the United States.
Under a preliminary trade deal announced, Beijing is expected to reduce tariffs on Canadian canola imports and grant Canadians visa-free travel to China.
But the United States — Canada’s traditional ally and largest trading partner — has threatened to impose 100-percent tariffs on Canadian products if the deal were to go ahead, saying it would allow China to “dump goods.”
Beijing’s top diplomat Wang told his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand on Saturday that their countries should jointly counter “interference,” without naming the United States.
“China is willing to work with Canada to eliminate interference, restart exchanges and cooperation in various fields,” Wang told Anand, according to a readout from Beijing’s foreign ministry.
China has overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, who was detained on drug charges in 2014, a Canadian official told AFP in February.
China-Canada ties had nosedived following the 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou.
That arrest infuriated Beijing, which detained two Canadians — Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig — on espionage charges that Ottawa condemned as retaliatory.
But on Saturday, Wang hailed Carney’s visit to China as “fruitful” and said the two countries should build a healthy and stable “new type of strategic partnership.”
Wang, who met a slew of Western leaders during the Munich Security Conference, has been eager to paint Beijing as a more stable partner compared to the increasingly unpredictable United States.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who took office last year, visited China in January as part of his global effort to broaden Canada’s export markets and decrease trade reliance on the United States.
Under a preliminary trade deal announced, Beijing is expected to reduce tariffs on Canadian canola imports and grant Canadians visa-free travel to China.
But the United States — Canada’s traditional ally and largest trading partner — has threatened to impose 100-percent tariffs on Canadian products if the deal were to go ahead, saying it would allow China to “dump goods.”
Beijing’s top diplomat Wang told his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand on Saturday that their countries should jointly counter “interference,” without naming the United States.
“China is willing to work with Canada to eliminate interference, restart exchanges and cooperation in various fields,” Wang told Anand, according to a readout from Beijing’s foreign ministry.
China has overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, who was detained on drug charges in 2014, a Canadian official told AFP in February.
China-Canada ties had nosedived following the 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou.
That arrest infuriated Beijing, which detained two Canadians — Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig — on espionage charges that Ottawa condemned as retaliatory.
But on Saturday, Wang hailed Carney’s visit to China as “fruitful” and said the two countries should build a healthy and stable “new type of strategic partnership.”
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