Fresh rains and flooding killed up to 16 people in the Philippines on Tuesday as a tropical storm worsened the death toll and damage from a weekend typhoon.
At least 45 people had died in the two storms, disaster officials said. Dozens were missing.
Flashfloods and landslides hit Aurora province, northeast of Manila, during heavy rains on Tuesday. The air force sent teams with rubber boats but some rescue helicopters could not land due to bad weather.
Air force and disaster officials estimated that the death toll in Aurora ranged from 13 to 16.
“Thousands of evacuees are currently in the area awaiting help,” the air force said in a statement, adding that local officials had requested extra food and medical supplies.
Rescuers were also scouring the sea around the islands of Romblon, Mindoro and Palawan for 84 people missing since Saturday when dozens of fishing boats capsized as Typhoon Muifa hit the Philippines.
Damage to crops, mostly rice and corn, from Muifa was put at 97.5 million pesos ($15.5 million). Property damage was about 50 million pesos.
“Most of the farmers just finished harvesting, so damage to rice was not that high,” said Gregorio Tan, administrator of grain trading firm the National Food Authority.
Muifa displaced more than 200,000 people but most returned by Monday. Nearly 30,000 houses were damaged or destroyed.
Muifa moved towards Vietnam on Sunday.
The Philippines is lashed by 17 to 20 typhoons every year. The most destructive in recent times was Thelma, which struck Leyte island in November 1991 and unleashed floods in Ormoc City that drowned about 5,000 people.
