Published January 14, 2015
The death toll from a powerful rainstorm that triggered landslides and flash floods in the eastern Philippines (search) rose to 412, with 177 people still missing, officials said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, winds and rain from another approaching typhoon hampered rescue efforts and prompted authorities to raise an alert over the country's already battered eastern provinces.
Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes told disaster officials in Manila that police had reported 412 dead, 63 injured and 177 missing.
As rescue workers worked to reach survivors on rooftops and dry patches of land, the coast guard prevented ferries, small boats and fishermen from leaving ports after authorities raised a typhoon alert over eastern provinces facing the Pacific Ocean.
Weather forecasters said Typhoon Nanmadol (search) was roaring toward the country with winds up to 150 mph. It was expected to make landfall Thursday or early Friday.
At least 150 people were killed in Real, a town in Quezon province. Police reported at least 100 dead in Infanta and 114 in nearby General Nakar.
Low clouds and pounding rain turned back a helicopter carrying Vice President Noli de Castro and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman on a visit to Quezon. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (search) also canceled a trip to the area.
In a statement, Arroyo ordered the military and police to crack down on illegal logging, blaming the high death toll on deforestation.
"Illegal logging must now be placed in the order of most serious crimes against our people," she said. "The series of landslides and flash floods that hit several parts of the country should serve as a wake-up call for us to join hands in preserving and stepping up reforestation."
Maj. Gen. Pedro Cabuay, the regional military commander, said the road to Real had been blocked by as many as 20 landslides, which soldiers and civilian contractors were trying to clear.
"They are inching their way," he said.
The Philippines is hit with about 20 storms and typhoons a year. A typhoon and another storm last week killed at least 87 people and left 80 others missing in the east.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/storm-death-toll-at-412-in-philippines