126 Killed In Massive Flooding, Landslides In Philippines

The death toll from devastating floods and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Trami in the Philippines has reached nearly 130, with more areas still cut off and residents in need of rescue, President Ferdinand Marcos said Saturday.

Trami exited the northwestern Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 85 dead and 41 missing, according to the government’s disaster-response agency. Officials expect the toll to rise as isolated regions begin to report back.

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In Batangas province, a team of police, firefighters, and other emergency personnel—along with three backhoes and sniffer dogs—recovered the body of one of two missing villagers in the lakeside town of Talisay.

A grieving father, waiting for word on his 14-year-old daughter, broke down as rescuers placed the remains in a black body bag. Assured it was his daughter, he followed the officers carrying her remains through the muddy village path, receiving condolences from nearby residents.

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In the town centre’s basketball gym, more than a dozen white coffins held the bodies of those recovered from the mud, boulders, and trees that slid down the steep ridge in Talisay’s Sampaloc village on Thursday.

President Marcos, who visited another severely impacted area southeast of Manila, said the storm had brought an exceptional volume of rain—equivalent to one to two months’ worth in 24 hours—overwhelming flood defences across provinces affected by Trami.

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