Philippines: Typhoon Rai Death Toll Rises to 375

The death toll from Typhoon Rai, which hit the Philippines last Thursday, rose to 475, while the number of victims grew to around 1,800,000 people, official sources reported Monday. 

The police released Monday the new balance of the damage caused by Rai, the worst typhoon to hit the Asian country this year, and said that 375 people have died, 239 people are injured and 52 more are missing.

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The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported that a total of 1,805,005 people have been affected.

The Disaster Response Center said that more than 450,000 families have been affected by the typhoon, which hit central and southern Philippines, according to local media.

Authorities have indicated that the death toll could change as they are awaiting a more detailed damage assessment. The last official report before the new update was 108 deaths.

Rai's wind force dropped to 150 kilometers per hour as it moved through the archipelago, leaving in its wake flooded villages, uprooted trees and shattered wooden houses in one of the strongest cyclones to hit the Philippines this storm season. 

The onslaught of the typhoon, known as Odette in the country and the fifteenth to hit the Philippines this year, has passed through a total of nine islands where it has destroyed communications in some areas and caused damage to numerous buildings.

At its strongest, Rai built up sustained winds of 195 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 270 kph, one of the most powerful in recent years to hit the disaster-prone Southeast Asian archipelago, which lies between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea.

More than 300,000 people fled their homes and beach hotels as Typhoon Rai slammed into the southern and central regions of the country, where it left areas without communication and knocked down electrical poles.

It is estimated that around 200,000 people took refuge in 8,000 evacuation centers organized by authorities.

Authorities in the Dinagat Islands, one of the first provinces hit by the strong winds of the so-called super typhoon, remained isolated on Saturday due to downed power and communication lines. 

Its governor, Arlene Bag-ao, managed to post a statement on the province's website to say that the island of some 180,000 inhabitants "has been razed to the ground." 

She also called for food, water, temporary shelters, fuel, hygiene kits and medical supplies and advanced that so far only a few victims have been reported in the capital because other villages remain isolated.

Images posted on Dinagat's website show low houses with blown or damaged roofs and surrounded by tin roofs and debris. The nearby island of Siargao, known as the surfing capital of the Philippines, was also hit hard by the typhoon.