The death toll from two storms which battered the Philippines rose to 45 Sunday as several towns remained under water and rain kept falling in northern regions, disaster monitoring officials said.
The rain was caused by a cold front, dragged into the country by Typhoon Melor and Tropical Depression Onyok which hit the Philippines in succession last week.
Floods almost three metres (nine feet) deep covered some riverside areas north of the capital Manila as heavy rain kept falling, civil defence offices said. “Our home has been flooded up to the waist.
It has been flooded for over two days,” said Mary Jane Bautista, 35, in the industrial town of Calumpit 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the capital.
Her family and several others were forced to take refuge on nearby high ground—in front of a church where their only shelter is the awning over the entrance.
There are also reports of large scale destruction due to torrential rains in various settled areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority sources said that in Mardan, Bannu divisions and districts of Karak and Tank four people were killed and dozens wounded as several houses collapsed.
In Malakand division too, as many as three people were reported dead and 15 others injured due to rains that resulted in the collapse of scores of houses.
The PDMA said the detailed assessment is being made about the losses of lives and property claiming the departments and various agencies attached with the disaster management and rescue operations are geared up to meet the emergency situation.
The downpour was badly disrupting the relief activities. A number of Army teams are engaged in relief and rescue work in various parts. The Met office has predicted more rains in days to come.
Agencies add: Death toll from torrential rains rose to 45 on Sunday after more homes collapsed in various parts of the country. “At least 17 people died due to roofs and walls collapsing or being struck by lightning,” Zahid Saleem, chief of Balochistan’s disaster management authority, told media.
Three persons including two children were killed in Gujar Khan on Sunday when a roof of the house caved in Bhangali area. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives.
Officials in the Punjab said they were still estimating damages caused by rains in the province.
Severe weather hits the country every year, with hundreds killed and huge tracts of prime farmland was destroyed in recent years.
During the rainy season last summer, torrential downpours and flooding killed 81 people and affected almost 300,000 across the country.
SOURCE:AGENCY