Lakeside town in the Philippines ravaged by deadliest of 11 storms to hit country this year, leaving more than 100 dead
Residents clear out mud from their homes in Talisay after a landslide was triggered by Tropical Storm Trami.
In the lakeside town of Talisay in the north-eastern Philippines, the 40,000 inhabitants had never experienced a landslide in their lifetime.
But after Raynaldo Dejucos left home last week to check his fish cages in the nearby Lake Taal, an avalanche of mud, boulders and toppled trees cascaded down a steep ridge and buried about a dozen houses, including his.
Talisay, about 70 kilometres south of Manila, was one of several towns ravaged by Tropical Storm Trami, the deadliest of 11 storms to hit the Philippines this year.
The storm veered toward Vietnam across the South China Sea after leaving at least 152 people dead and missing.
The storm has killed at least152 people and left thousands homeless.
More than 5.9 million people were in the storm’s path in northern and central provinces.
"My wife was breastfeeding our two-month-old baby," Mr Dejucos told The Associated Press in a municipal basketball gym, where the five white coffins of his entire family were laid side by side with those of a dozen other victims.
Mr Dejucos beside coffins of the family he lost in a landslide.
"I was calling out the names of my wife and our children repeatedly. Where are you? Where are you?"
Disasters and migration to danger zones a deadly mix
It’s the latest reality check in the Philippines, long regarded as one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, in the era of climate change extremes.
Located between the Pacific Ocean and South China Sea, the Philippine archipelago is regarded as the doorway for about 20 typhoons and storms that barrel through its 7,600 islands each year, some with devastating force.
A resident sits beside belongings from their damaged home.
The nation of more than 110 million people also lies in the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where many volcanic eruptions and most of the world’s earthquakes occur.
A deadly mix of increasingly destructive weather blamed on climate change, and economic desperation that has forced people to live and work in previously off-limits disaster zones, has made many communities across South-East Asia disasters waiting to happen.
Rescuers at the site of the landslide.
Villages have sprouted in landslide-prone mountainsides, on active volcano slopes, on earthquake fault lines and on coastlines often inundated by tidal surges.
UN Assistant Secretary-General Kamal Kishore, who heads the UN disaster-mitigation agency, warned that disasters, including those caused by ferocious storms, were threatening more people.
Volunteers continue rescue operations in Talisay.
He also said they could derail the region’s economic progress if governments don’t invest more in disaster prevention.
A volcano town bears the brunt of calamity
The picturesque resort town of Talisay lies north of Taal, one of the country’s 24 most active volcanoes nestled on an island in the middle of a lake.
Fruit and vegetable farms have flourished on the fertile land, which is also a key tourist destination.
Talisay lies north of Taal, one of the country’s 24 most active volcanoes.
Fernan Cosme, a 59-year-old village councillor, told the AP that the towering ridge at Talisay’s northern fringes had never posed any major risks, at least in his lifetime.
The key worry has always been the volcano, which has been restive on and off since the 1500s.
"Many take the risks," Mr Cosme said of Talisay villagers, who have grown accustomed to Taal’s volatility and survived in its shadow.
Residents clear out mud from their homes.
In 2020, Taal’s eruption displaced hundreds of thousands and sent clouds of ash all the way to Manila, shutting the main international airport.
Doris Echin, a 35-year-old mother, said she nearly died when the mudslide swamped her up to the waist as she darted out of her hut, carrying her two daughters.
She said she prayed hard and managed to plod through.
Residents try to recover belongings from their damaged homes.
Standing beside her hut, which was half-buried in mud as police and emergency personnel searched the area with backhoes and sniffer dogs, Ms Echin worried about her family’s fate.
"If we relocate, where will we get the money to build a new house? Which employer will give us jobs?" she asked.
"If we get to rebuild and stay, we’ll be living between a volcano and a crumbling mountain."
AP
By：https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-28/philippines-talisay-volcano-landslides-tropical-storm/104524990(责任编辑：admin)
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