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At least 20 people are dead and dozens more missing following the first typhoon to strike the Philippines this year.
Typhoon Conson struck on 13 July, knocking out power for over 40 million people in the main island of Luzon and blowing away shanties in impoverished coastal areas, the country’s National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) reported.
The NDCC held an emergency meeting with President Benigno Aquino, who ordered the interior department “to conduct [an] inventory of areas affected, account for vulnerable people, and ensure that [the] needs of affected populations are attended to,” NDCC chief Benito Ramos said.
According to Maplecroft’s latest Natural Disaster Risk Index (NDRI), the Philippines is ranked ninth out of 229 countries most vulnerable to natural disasters. Tropical Storm Ketsana and Typhoon Parma struck in September and October 2009, killing about 1,000 people and affecting nearly 10 million, in what has been described as the worst humanitarian crisis to strike the country in years.
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