The storm blows away from the Philippines leaving 82 dead, but may return

MANILA —

Tropical Storm Trami blew away from the northwestern Philippines on Friday, killing at least 82 people in landslides and extensive flooding that forced authorities to scramble for more rescue boats to rescue thousands of terrified people trapped, some on their roofs.

But the onslaught may not be over yet: State forecasters have raised the rare possibility that the storm – the 11th and one of the deadliest to hit the Philippines this year – could make a U-turn next week as it is pushed back by high-pressure winds . in the South China Sea.

A Philippine provincial police chief said Friday that 49 people were killed, mostly in landslides triggered by Trami, in Batangas province south of Manila. That brought the total death toll from the storm to at least 82.

Eleven other villagers are still missing in Batangas, Col. Jacinto Malinao Jr. said. to the Associated Press by telephone from the lakeside town of Talisay, where he stood next to a villager whose wife and child were buried in the deep mound of mud, boulders and trees.

Using a backhoe and shovels, police tried to dig through 10 feet of mud, rocks and rubble and found part of a head and a foot apparently those of the missing woman and child.

“He is just devastated,” Malinao said of the villager, a fisherman who was on his way to tend fish cages in a lake when the landslide occurred Thursday amid heavy rain.

“He is in shock and cannot talk, and we are just asking him to point out where their bedroom was located so we can dig in that area,” Malinao said.

The storm was last tracked Friday afternoon, blowing 400 kilometers west of the northwestern Philippine province of Ilocos Sur with sustained winds of up to 125 km per hour. It was moving northwest towards Vietnam, which is expected to be hit by Trami from Sunday.

However, the Philippine Weather Bureau said it is possible that high-pressure winds and other weather factors in the South China Sea could force the storm to turn back towards the Philippines.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., sounding irritated, inquired about that prospect during an emergency meeting with Cabinet members and disaster management officials on Friday about the response to the widespread destruction.

“What are the predictions for that? Is it possible for it to return?” Marcos asked.

A government forecaster told him that Trami could turn west of the Philippines early next week, but it was more likely to blow away from the Philippines again without making landfall.

“It doesn’t have to come ashore to cause damage,” Marcos said.

State forecaster Jofren Habaluyas told the AP that Trami’s possible reversal has drawn interest from government weather experts in Asia, including those from Japan, which has provided information to the Philippines to help monitor the storm.

The 82 storm deaths included 26 villagers killed in floods and landslides in hard-hit Bicol, an agricultural region and tourist destination southeast of Manila popular for Mayon, one of the country’s 24 most active volcanoes with a near-perfect cone.

At least 27 are still missing in various provinces, including 17 in Batangas, according to Malinao and the Civil Defense Bureau.

Although Trami did not develop into a typhoon, it caused unusually heavy rainfall in some regions, including some that saw one to two months of rain in just 24 hours, inundating communities with flash floods.

Officials in the city of Naga, where 11 people died from drowning, and the remote provinces of Camarines Sur and Albay called for more rescue boats at the height of the attack to reach people trapped on the top floors of their homes or on their roofs as the water rose .

In the foothills of Albay province’s Mayon volcano, mud and other debris flowed into nearby towns when the storm hit, engulfing homes and cars in black mud.

More than 2.6 million people were affected by the flood, and nearly 320,000 people fled to evacuation centers or the homes of relatives, officials said.

The government closed schools and government buildings on the northern main island of Luzon for a third day on Friday. Ferry services between the islands were also suspended, leaving thousands stranded.

In Vietnam, state forecasters warned of heavy rains in the central region. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered coastal provinces to remain vigilant, closely monitor Trami’s course and brace for unforeseen events.

Last month, Typhoon Yagi ravaged Vietnam, killing 323 people and causing extensive damage worth $3.3 billion, according to a report by the Vietnamese government.

Every year, about 20 storms and typhoons hit the Philippines, a Southeast Asian archipelago located between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyanone of the strongest tropical cyclones on record, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing and flattened entire villages.

Gomez and Dinh write for the Associated Press. Dinh reported from Hanoi, Vietnam.