Death toll rises to 18 as Philippines reels from Typhoon Fung-wong’s devastation

Rescuers using backhoes and chainsaws began digging the Philippines out from the devastation of Typhoon Fungwong on Tuesday as floodwaters receded in hundreds of villages and the storms death toll climbed to 18Fungwong which displaced 14 million people had weakened into a severe tropical storm even as it began dumping rain on neighbouring Taiwan ahead of an expected Wednesday landfallIt was the second major typhoon to hit the Philippines in days after Typhoon Kalmaegi last week rampaged through the archipelagos central islands on its way to killing 232 people according to the latest figuresIn coastal Isabela province a town of 6000 remained cut off from help on Tuesday a civil defence spokesman told AFP with parts of neighbouring Nueva Vizcaya province similarly isolatedWe are struggling to access these areas said Cagayan Valley region spokesman Alvin Ayson who added that landslides had prevented rescuers from reaching affected residentsOthers were now in evacuation centres but when they get back to their homes their rebuilding will take time and face challengesHe added that a 10yearold boy in Nueva Vizcaya had been killed by one of the landslidesThe child was among 18 deaths recorded in a new death toll released Tuesday by national civil defence deputy administrator Rafaelito AlejandroIn a phone interview Alejandro told AFP that even early recovery efforts would take weeksThe greatest challenge for us right now is the restoration of lifelines road clearing and restoration of power and communication lines but we are working on itIn hardesthit Catanduanes island issues with the water supply could take up to 20 days to fix he saidSchools and offices were closed on Tuesday in multiple counties in Taiwan as the approaching storm intensified the northeast monsoon triggering heavy rainUp to 400 millimetres nearly 16 inches of rain is expected over the next 24 hours government and weather officials there saidPresident Lai Chingte urged people to avoid mountainous areas beaches and other dangerous locations to get through this period safelyStrongest typhoonIn Cagayan part of the Philippines largest river basin provincial rescue chief Rueli Rapsing told AFP on Monday that a flash flood in neighbouring Apayao province had caused the Chico River to burst its banks sending nearby residents scrambling for higher groundWe received reports that some people were already on their roofs he said adding most had been rescuedMark Lamer 24 a resident of Cagayans Tuao town told AFP it was the strongest typhoon I have ever experiencedWe didnt think the water would reach us It had never risen this high previously he saidMore than 5000 people were safely evacuated before the overflowing Cagayan River buried the small city of Tuguegarao about 30 kilometres 20 miles awayTuguegarao is underwater now Rapsing saidScientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful due to humandriven climate change Warmer oceans allow typhoons to strengthen rapidly and a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture which means heavier rainfallFungwongs death toll rose Monday after fiveyearold twins and an elderly man in two northern Luzon provinces were reported killed in landslidesThe two children were killed at around 200 am as their family slept inside their home according to Ayson the regional spokesman Seasonal monsoon rains had saturated the soil around the dwelling before Fungwong struck he saidThe storms first fatality came a day earlier further south in Samar province while another was confirmed on Catanduanes island where storm surges Sunday morning sent waves hurtling over streets and floodwaters into homesTyphoon Kalmaegi last week sent floods rushing through the towns and cities of the central Philippines sweeping away cars riverside shanties and shipping containersPresident Ferdinand Marcos said Monday that a state of national calamity declared over Kalmaegi would be extended to a full yearThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever