Increase to 85 the dead and 20 those lost by the storm Usman in the Philippines
At least 85 people have died and 20 remain missing due to floods, landslides and other catastrophes caused by the storm Usman as it passes through the Philippines, official sources reported today.
The National Council for Disaster Reduction and Management (NDRRMC), the Philippine body that coordinates information during disasters, placed the number of displaced persons at 191,597 and injured 40.
Of the total affected, only 24,894 Filipinos are served in reception centers located in the central and northern regions of the country, the most affected.
The number of victims "is pending verification," the NDRRMC warned in its latest statement.
Local authorities have declared the state of calamity in Camarines del Sur, a province of the Bicol region, located in the southeast of Luzon, whose capital is Pili and which has a population of almost two million inhabitants.
The measure will expedite the disbursement of funds to address those affected and repair the damage to the infrastructure network.
Visayas Oriental, along with Bicol, is the other region of the Philippines most affected by Usman, a tropical depression that made landfall last Saturday and is already out of the country.
The Philippines receives between 15 and 20 typhoons every year during the rainy or monsoon season, which usually begins in May or June and ends in November or December.
