The need for water and food in a “desperate” typhoon hit the Philippines Weather News

More than 18,000 soldiers and emergency personnel are joining search and rescue operations in the Philippines after the worst typhoon hit the country this year. it caused “serious damage.” in the central and southern regions.

The spread of Typhoon Rai’s death toll on Saturday rose to 21, and people in the affected regions claimed basic needs.

The storm, known locally as Odette, was when a super typhoon struck the blow On Thursday, it entered the eastern island of Siargao, with a maximum sustained wind of 195 kilometers per hour (120 miles per hour).

More than 300,000 people had to flee their homes as the storm devastated the central and southern regions of the country, destroying communications in various areas and damaging concrete electricity poles.

Mark Timbal, a spokesman for the National Disaster Agency, said there had been “serious damage” to Siargao Island and the nearby city of Surigao on the nearby island of Mindanao.

Communications are still down in both Siargao and Surigao, he told AFP news agency.

The Philippine Coast Guard has shared photos on social media showing widespread destruction around the city of Surigao, with roofs ripped off buildings, wooden structures broken and palm trees removed from the foliage.

Aerial images showed fragments of rice fields under water.

In Dinagat, in the western island province of Siargao, Deputy Governor Nile Demerey told ABS-CBN that the storm had left at least six dead.

“Odette was very strong,” Demerey said, using the typhoon’s local name.

Neighbors “are trying to fix their houses because they even threw down our evacuation centers. They can’t find shelter anywhere else … everything was destroyed. “

“The islands of Siargao, Surigao and Dinagat had the same fate; we are asking for help,” he added.

In the city of Surigao, three more people were reported dead on Saturday, bringing the death toll to 21.

Al Jazeera’s Jamela Alindogan, from the Philippine capital, Manila, said the situation was “quite desperate” in the affected provinces.

“People we talk to say they need water, medicine, shelter and basic items like blankets and sleeping mats. Many hospitals in these areas are partially damaged. Some patients there are also in need of food, medicine and other supplies, ”he said.

“But the problem here is that travel points – airports and ports – have been largely destroyed.”

Officials are still trying to assess the extent of the disaster, including the number of people killed, he said, but that effort has been hampered by damage to communication lines.

Survivors are “grateful to be alive,” Alindogan said, “but they are afraid for the coming months because their livelihood has been completely wiped out.”

“Many of the affected areas, Siargao, Bohol, Leyte, were slowly recovering from this pandemic. These are provinces that are heavily dependent on tourism for their livelihood,” he said. “These are also the same areas that have seen the highest incidence of hunger in recent months, due to blockages and recession, and were expected to begin to recover economically.”

The Philippine weather agency said the typhoon was easing.

After hitting Palawan Island on Friday, Rai left the South China Sea on Saturday and headed for Vietnam, he said.

Rai flew to the Philippines at the end of the typhoon season; most cyclones usually develop between July and October.

Scientists have long warned that typhoons are growing stronger and faster as the world warms as a result of human-driven climate change.

The Philippines, which ranks among the most vulnerable countries in the world in the face of the effects of climate change, suffers an average of 20 storms and typhoons a year, usually destroying crops, housing and infrastructure in already impoverished areas.