Heavy rains force more evacuations in Philippines as body count is corrected at 1,249

The number of people who died in massive flash floods in the southern Mindanao a week ago was smaller than earlier reported, Philippine disaster management officials say.

MANILA // The number of people who died in massive flash floods in the southern Mindanao region a week ago was smaller than earlier reported, Philippine disaster management officials said yesterday.

The civil defence chief, Benito Ramos, said he has corrected an earlier death toll from the health department of nearly 1,500 to 1,249 based on an actual count of identified and unidentified bodies recovered by soldiers, police, firemen and other rescue workers.

He said the exact number of missing could no longer be determined but the search for bodies will continue.

Heavy rains overnight on Monday in the eastern provinces of Mindanao have triggered floods and forced the evacuation of thousands of families, many by military helicopter, he said.

Most of the dead from last week's floods were from the northern Mindanao coastal cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro where muddy water cascaded from nearby mountains and rampaging rivers, sweeping away nearly everything in their paths and leaving bodies under thick layers of mud, trees and other debris.

Mr Ramos said decomposing remains were retrieved floating in the sea as far as 60 kilometres from the two cities where Typhoon Washi unleashed more than a month's worth of rainfall in 12 hours starting late on December 16, sending walls of water gushing into homes, Mr Ramos said.

A passing low pressure area this weekend dumped rains over many areas in southern and central Philippines, prompting the evacuation of about 3,000 families from the Mindanao provinces of Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Sur and Dinagat on Monday and yesterday, Mr Ramos said.

Bukidnon province's Polangui river breached its banks and swamped homes in Valencia city where more than 400 families from a flooded village were evacuated to temporary shelters yesterday, the army said.

More than 60,000 homeless from hundreds of flood-ravaged villages spent a miserable Christmas in jam-packed schools and gymnasiums, while the United Nations launched an urgent appeal for US$28 million (Dh102.76m) to help the displaced - more than half the population of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.

President Benigno Aquino, who banned logging in February following previous flooding deaths that experts say were caused partly by deforestation and soil erosion, has ordered an investigation.

Another factor in the staggering death toll was illegal settlements along Cagayan rivers.

Thousands of people lived in shanties on the banks and islands directly along the water's path.