Water was already up to his knees, but 22-year-old Kierwen Garlan’s first thought was how to help his neighbors, as their homes were filling with floodwater and being lashed by heavy rain.
Tropical Storm Trami, known locally as Kristine, swept across the northeastern Philippines last week, inundating entire towns with severe flooding and triggering deadly landslides in what was the deadliest and most destructive storm to hit the archipelago so far this year.
The Philippines is struck by multiple typhoons a year and Trami was not an especially strong storm when it made landfall, at least in terms of windspeed. But it was the intense downpours that brought destruction.
Nearly 130 people have been killed and at least 30 are missing, the country’s disaster relief agency said, as authorities race to deliver relief to remote communities, particularly those in the hardest hit Bicol region, ahead of another powerful storm that could soon lash the region again.
“Of course, we were scared, but luckily my family’s house is on higher ground,” Garlan, a resident of Sorsogon province, told CNN.
Raging floodwaters covered the rooftops of several homes in the district of Bulan, Sorsogon – over 575 kilometers southeast of the capital Manila.
“There were heavy rains and strong winds that came so suddenly,” Garlan said. “And our town normally doesn’t get flooded.”
As soon as the rains started to weaken, Garland and about 15 volunteers teamed up with local rescue authorities to clear up roads and arrange for the delivery of aid.
“We’re worried we won’t get to people in time. There are already children getting colds and coughs, maybe some are also contracting leptospirosis (a bacterial disease),” he said.
Bulan, a town of about 100,000 people, was among the first municipality to declare a state of emergency on Wednesday in anticipation of the storm. It quickly got swept by floods, but luckily, no deaths have been reported.
Across Sorsogon province, pictures shared by emergency response teams showed thick mud blanketing many roads making some parts inaccessible to vehicles.
The death toll around the country continues to rise as blocked roads, choppy waters and strong winds hamper rescue operations and make it risky to reach rural areas by land, sea and air.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos ordered Philippine army assets, including his presidential helicopter, to assist in relief and rescue efforts, according to a statement on Friday.
“By air, land, or sea, we’ll keep the support coming. Together, we will rise again,” Marcos said.
On Monday, Trami continued moving west across the South China Sea from the Philippines, lashing central Vietnam, where it killed at least two in the central province of Thua Thien Hue, state media reported.
The region is also bracing for Kong Rey, which has now hit typhoon strength, as it hurdles towards Taiwan this week, bringing heavy rains and strong winds to the Philippines’ northern Luzon island over the next few days.
Southeast Asia is one of the most climate vulnerable regions of the world, experts warn, making it more susceptible to extreme weather like heatwaves, storm surges and floods.
The Philippines, a nation highly susceptible to natural disasters, has seen an increasing number of storms and typhoons with greater severity in recent years.
So far this year, its capital Manila and parts of Luzon have seen devastating flooding as a result of Typhoon Gaemi. Last month, the country was also hit by the region’s most powerful storm this year, Typhoon Yagi, which left dozens dead after sweeping across southern China and Southeast Asia.