MANILA, Philippines — The death toll from heavy rains and flooding that devastated parts of the Philippines over Christmas weekend has risen to 25, with another 26 people still missing, the national response agency said. to disasters on Wednesday.
Nearly 400,000 people were affected, more than 81,000 remain in shelters and nine others are injured, the National Council for Risk Reduction and Disaster Management said.
Sixteen of the 25 deaths were reported in the Northern Mindanao region in the south, while 12 of the 26 missing are from the eastern Bicol region, the council added.
A shear line — the point where a warm and cold air front meet — dumped rain across parts of the eastern, central and southern Philippines, state meteorological office PAGASA said.
The weather phenomenon altered the celebration of Christmas in the affected provinces. In a photograph from the southern province of Misamis Occidental, rescuers could be seen carrying an elderly woman on a chair in the middle of a flooded street.
The disaster management council said 1,196 houses were damaged by the floods, and sections of 123 roads and 12 bridges were affected. Some areas continue without electricity or water.