The grim toll from a typhoon that devastated southern
Philippines earlier this month continues to climb, with 1,020 reported dead as
of Sunday morning, authorities said. Officials fear the toll from the December 4 storm will rise
further. Because while rescue crews continue searching, the chances of finding
people alive dim with each passing day.
With 844 still missing and 1.2 million families displaced,
Bopha (called "Pablo" in the Philippines) is the strongest and deadliest storm to hit the Philippines this year,
according to the country's emergency management agency. Among the missing are hundreds of fishermen who went to sea
before the storm hit. Officials hope that they could yet be found sheltering on
small islands out at sea.
If the death toll continues to rise, Bopha could eventually
prove deadlier than Tropical Storm Washi, which killed 1,268 people a year ago.
The worst of the death and destruction from Bopha took place
on the southern island of Mindanao, where the storm hit first and hardest with
gusts as strong as 220 kph (138 mph). The storm, known locally as Pablo, was the most powerful
typhoon to hit Mindanao in decades. It set off flash floods and landslides that
engulfed people sheltering in their rickety houses in remote, unprepared
regions of the island.
