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Manila, Dec 19 (IANS) The death toll from the powerful typhoon Rai that battered the Philippines last week has increased to 65, local officials said on Sunday.
The number of deaths is likely to rise as data gathering from the field continues in the wake of the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year.
The officials said 49 died in Bohol province, six in Southern Leyte province in the central Philippines, and 10 in Dinagat Islands in the southern Philippines.
On Saturday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said it received reports of 31 deaths in central and southern Philippines and one missing. The NDRRMC has yet to update its death tally.
Communications are still down in typhoon-ravaged areas, making it difficult for the NDRRMC to contact its regional and provincial agencies.
"Presently, communications are still down, proof of which only 21 mayors out of 48 have reached us. They have reported at least 49 deaths from their towns with 10 missing and 13 injured," Bohol Governor Arthur Yap said in a video message he posted on Facebook.
Bohol, a province in the central Philippines, is still without electricity. Yap said it might take up to three weeks to restore power in the affected areas, and the residents of some hardest-hit towns were asking for food and water.
Jeffrey Crisostomo, the spokesperson for Dinagat Islands province, said at least 10 people have died from the typhoon in the region, and five more were missing, reports Xinhua news agency.
Lord Byron Torrecarion, the director of the Office of Civil Defense in the Eastern Visayas region, reported six deaths and one missing in Southern Leyte province.
Typhoon Rai made landfall on the Siargao Island on December 16. It was blowing maximum winds of 195 km per hour and with gusts of up to 240 km per hour when it slammed into the island in Surigao del Norte province.
The typhoon swelled rivers and flooded low-lying areas while cutting through towns and villages in the central Philippines and the northern Mindanao in the southern part of the country.
The NDRRMC said Rai affected more than 700,000 people, caused power outages, damaged buildings and houses in nine regions.
The damage to crops and infrastructure is still being calculated.
The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, mainly due to its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire and Pacific typhoon belt.
On an average, this archipelagic country experiences 20 typhoons every year, some of which are intense and destructive.
The World Bank said natural disasters have killed 33,000 Filipinos in the past 30 years, affecting 120 million people.
--IANS
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