Floods, landslides kill at least 31 in southern Philippines

At least 31 people have died and nine others are missing after flash floods and landslides triggered by torrential rain inundated a southern Philippine province, officials said.

At least 26 people died in the neighbouring towns of Datu Odin Sinsuat and Datu Blah Sinsuat, and another five in Upi town in Maguindanao province.

Rescue teams have been deployed to a tribal village at the foot of Mount Datuk Odin Sinsut to check reports of floods and landslides also hitting homes in the area, officials said, adding that there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Unusually heavy rain from Tropical Storm Nalgae flooded several towns in Maguindanao and outlying provinces in the swampy plains overnight, forecasters said, with the storm expected to hit the region from the Pacific Ocean on Saturday morning. East coast of the country.

Rapidly rising floodwaters in many low-lying villages forced some villagers to climb onto their roofs, where they were rescued by the army, police and volunteers.

The flooding began to recede after the rains eased on Friday morning.

“In one area of ​​Upi, only the loft of a school was visible above the floodwaters,” said an official, referring to a flooded town in Maguindanao province.

Government forecaster Sam Duran said the wide rainbands of Storm Nargay, which is hitting the Philippine Islands for the 16th time this year, allowed it to pour heavy rain in the southern part of the country, although the storm was blowing farther north.

About 20 typhoons and storms hit the Philippines every year.

It is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is much of the Pacific coast, where volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are frequent, making the Southeast Asian archipelago one of the most disaster-prone regions in the world.