Storm moves away from northern Philippines, leaving 82 dead

Rescuers search for bodies after a landslide triggered by Tropical Storm Trami hit homes in Talisay, Batangas province, Philippines, on October 26. (AP)

MANILA, Philippines, Oct. 26 (AP): Tropical Storm Trami moved away from the northwestern Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 82 people dead in landslides and extensive flooding that forced authorities to search for more rescue boats to save to thousands of terrified people. who were trapped, some on their roofs. But the onslaught may not be over: State forecasters raised the rare possibility that the storm, the 11th and one of the deadliest to hit the Philippines this year, could do a U-turn next week as it is pushed toward back by high pressure winds. in the South China Sea.

A Philippine provincial police chief said Friday that 49 people were killed, most 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 remain missing in Batangas, Col. Jacinto Malinao Jr. told The Associated Press by telephone from the lake town of Talisay, where he was with a villager whose wife and children were buried in a deep mound of mud, rocks and trees.

Using a backhoe and shovels, police scrambled through 10 feet (3 meters) of mud, rocks and debris and found a portion of the head and foot that appeared to be those of the missing woman and child. “He’s just devastated,” Malinao said of the villager, a fisherman, whose wife and son were buried in the landslide that occurred Thursday afternoon amid torrential rains while he was tending fish cages at a lake. “He’s in shock and he couldn’t.” He is not talking and we are just asking him to point out where his bedroom was located so that we can excavate that part,” Malinao said.

The storm was last tracked Friday afternoon, blowing 410 kilometers (255 miles) west of Ilocos Sur province in the northwestern Philippines, with sustained winds up to 95 kph (59 mph) and gusts of up to 115 kph (78 mph). It was moving northwest at 30 kilometers per hour (19 mph) toward Vietnam, which is forecast to be hit by Trami starting Sunday if it maintains its course. The Philippine weather agency, however, said high-pressure winds and other weather factors in the South China Sea are likely to force the storm back toward the Philippines.