Australia announces humanitarian support for Philippines following tropical storms
The Australian government has announced humanitarian assistance to support the Philippines' recovery from a devastating series of tropical storms.
At least 41 people were killed after wreaked havoc hit the Philippines while 12 others were reported missing, according to government officials on Sunday.
National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) said that 28 people were injured in the wake of the typhoon that made landfall on December 24 and caused severe floods and damaged several houses in the central areas of the archipelago, Efe news reported.
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Phanfone, locally called Ursula, affected about 1.6 million people. Over 97,000 are currently living in temporary shelters.
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Several boats, some 52 roads, and two bridges were also damaged and nearly 90 municipalities were left without electricity.
On Tuesday, the eye of the typhoon had moved outside of the archipelago, and it was around 335 km west of Subic municipality in Zambales province, northwest of Manila.
Phanfone destroyed boats and houses, caused floods, forced some 39,000 people to return to temporary shelters and left nearly 90 municipalities without electricity.
Damages and losses reported, mostly in the Visayas, were so far valued by the Department of Agriculture at $11.2 million, affecting over 43,000 farmers and fishers, while more than 4,6000 hectares of rice, corn and cassava were damaged.
Between 15 and 20 typhoons make landfall in the Philippines every year during the rainy season, which begins around the months of May and June and usually ends between November and December.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan – with gusts of winds up to 235 kph – killed more than 6,300 people, leaving over 1,000 missing.
(With inputs from IANS)
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