Most of the deaths from tropical storm Megi -- the strongest to hit the disaster-prone archipelago this year -- were in the central province of Leyte where a series of landslides devastated communities.
At least 47 people died and 27 were missing after waves of sodden soil smashed into farming settlements around Baybay City over the weekend, local authorities said. Just over 100 people were injured.
Three people were also killed in the central province of Negros Oriental and three on the main southern island of Mindanao, according to the national disaster agency.
Search operations for survivors in Pilar village -- part of Abuyog municipality in Leyte -- resumed at first light Wednesday, with boats carrying rescuers to the coastal community of around 400 people a day after a landslide pushed most houses into the sea.
“We have five casualties, one unidentified,” Captain James Mark Ruiz of Abuyog police told AFP.
Around 50 survivors have been rescued from the village, the Bureau of Fire Protection said on Facebook Tuesday.
Raymark Lasco, a radio operator at the Abuyog disaster agency, told AFP that “many people” had died.
“I can’t give you exact details... because our operation is ongoing,” he said.
Port operations suspended
Search operations have also resumed around Baybay City after the rain stopped, enabling emergency personnel to access hard-hit areas, Mayor Jose Carlos Cari told CNN Philippines.
“In some barangays (villages), we’re just doing retrieval,” Cari said.
Rescuers have been using their bare hands and shovels to reach victims buried by the landslides.
A Philippine Coast Guard video shared on Facebook Tuesday showed rescuers carrying a mud-caked woman on a stretcher from one of the devastated villages, while other victims were piggybacked to safety.
