A fisherman secures his boat on the bay in Sorsogon, within the Philippines’ Sorsogon province on October 28, 2022, ahead of the expected landfall of Tropical Storm Nalgae.
Charism Sayat | AFP| Getty Images
The Philippines has recorded 72 deaths from Tropical Storm Nalgae that caused floods and landslides in southern provinces, the country’s disaster agency said on Saturday.
Maguindanao province was essentially the most affected with 67 people dead, while two were killed in Sultan Kudarat, one other two in South Cotabato and the remaining of the casualties spread across the Visayas region in central Philippines, agency spokesperson Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro told the DZMM radio station.
There have been also 33 injured and 14 missing individuals, he said.
The tropical storm, which has maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers (59 miles) per hour and gusts of as much as 160 kph (99.4 mph), made landfall within the eastern Catanduanes province early on Saturday.
It’ll bring heavy and at times torrential rains over the capital region and nearby provinces on Saturday because it cuts through the predominant Luzon island and heads to the South China Sea, the state weather agency said in its latest bulletin.
On Friday, search and rescue teams pulled bodies from water and thick mud after Nalgae triggered flooding and landslides.
“We are actually gathering all rescue teams and can conduct a briefing before deployment,” Nasrullah Imam, disaster agency official at Maguindanao province, said. “It’s now not raining so this may help our search and operation.”
A mean of 20 tropical storms hit the Philippines annually.