Battling the floods as death toll rises

Aid workers are struggling to help more than 1.7 million people affected by unseasonal rains that have resulted in massive flooding and landslides in large areas of the Philippines' eastern and southern coasts.



According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on 20 January, continuous rains that began in late December have led to flooding and landslides in more than 173 towns and 17 cities across the Philippines, as well as the displacement of over 60,000 people now sheltered in 72 evacuation centres.



Some 1,773,000 people - close to 350,000 families - have been affected, with entire farming lands and provincial road networks submerged in muddy water.



Damage to agriculture and infrastructure is estimated at close to US$40 million.



Sixty people have died, while rescuers were still looking for 27 others unaccounted for, the council said.



Local media report rope lifelines being installed along the country's national highway to ensure the safety of residents wading through floodwaters, while water levels elsewhere reach the roofs of many homes.



More than 140 teams of volunteers from the Philippine Red Cross have been deployed to conduct needs assessments in crowded evacuation centres as heavy rains continue to batter some parts of the country.



"Packing of relief goods is ongoing for immediate distribution as the chapter continuously supplies essential food items to the affected residents," National Red Cross secretary-general Gwendolyn Pang told IRIN.



"Staff and volunteers are now rushing to provide hot meals and other needs to affected families. Some 10,000 litres of drinking water are also being rushed to the sites, although we need more.



"We are appealing for more public support for the relief operations to be able to bring necessary humanitarian assistance with immediacy and efficiency," she said.



The government has so far trucked in more than $200,000 worth of aid to flood survivors, including hygiene and first-aid kits to areas that bore the brunt of the disaster, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said.



Meanwhile, as flood waters in some areas begin to recede, officials warn of further rain as a result of La Niña, the weather phenomenon whereby cooler sea surface temperatures in the Pacific mix with warm air in the tropical country, triggering unseasonal downpours.



La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.



"La Niña will continue to bring cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms over the eastern section of the country," the weather bureau said.



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