By Erik de Castro
REAL, Philippines (Reuters) - Rescuers dug with their bare hands
Wednesday to find survivors from landslides and floods that killed up to
600 people in a part of the northern Philippines due to be hit by a
typhoon in just over 24 hours.
Residents of coastal towns worst hit by heavy rains early this week
said food and water were running low as rescuers were forced to carry
supplies on foot after roads were cut off and bad weather grounded
rescue helicopters.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered a nationwide crackdown on
the illegal logging believed to have worsened the landslides and told
officials to do everything possible to protect people from the coming
typhoon.
But the isolated location of the towns and worsening weather
conditions made them inaccessible by sea or air, forcing hundreds of
residents to wade for miles through deep mud for help.
"Food and water supplies are running low and the stench of
decomposing bodies is starting to overcome us," said Ros Calma, 37,
who walked eight hours to escape Real, one of the three towns in Quezon
province east of Manila.
"We are worried that an epidemic might break out."
Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes said up to 600 people may have been
killed in landslides and floods that hit several areas in the main
northern island of Luzon. Citing police reports, he said 412 people were
confirmed dead, 63 injured and 177 missing.
In Real, rescuers used sticks and bare hands to search for friends
and relatives who had taken shelter in a large building that then
collapsed.
Neri Amparo, an official at the National Disaster Coordinating
Center, said more than 70 could have been buried alive when boulders
swept by mudslides smashed into the building.
"So far, only 25 bodies have been found," she said.
Decades of logging have cut forest cover in the Philippines from 34
percent in 1970 to 18 percent now, according to the Environmental
Science for Social Change, a local activist group. Continued
...
The government imposed a selective log ban after widespread floods in
the early 1990s, but numerous "crackdowns" have failed to halt
a trade that is worth millions of dollars a year to smugglers and
corrupt politicians.
"Illegal logging must now be placed in the most serious crimes
against our people," Arroyo said Wednesday.
TYPHOON BEARING DOWN
Meteorological officials said Typhoon Nanmadol, packing winds of 108
mph at its center, was gaining strength and was expected to hit the east
coast late Thursday or on Friday.
"We haven't seen anything like this since the start of the year,
said Rose Asejo, an official at the national weather bureau. "It's
a super typhoon with a wider coverage and very strong winds."
The weather was already worsening.
Attempts to reach the towns with the country's few rescue helicopters
failed and a navy ship ferrying relief supplies to Real was stuck there
due to high waves and logs in the sea.
Soldiers helping in rescue efforts faced the added danger of attacks
by communist rebels, who have a strong presence in the Sierra Madre
mountains along the eastern coastline.
The military said 10 soldiers were killed and six wounded in an
ambush by New People's Army rebels in Bulacan province on Tuesday.
Some flood victims had lucky escapes.
One 20-year-old man and his heavily pregnant wife were swept along in
a flooded river for two hours, surviving by clinging to a water jug and
a banana crate before being fished out by a local resident, the
Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
The government imposed a selective log ban after widespread floods in
the early 1990s, but numerous "crackdowns" have failed to halt
a trade that is worth millions of dollars a year to smugglers and
corrupt politicians.
"Illegal logging must now be placed in the most serious crimes
against our people," Arroyo said Wednesday.
TYPHOON BEARING DOWN
Meteorological officials said Typhoon Nanmadol, packing winds of 108
mph at its center, was gaining strength and was expected to hit the east
coast late Thursday or on Friday.
"We haven't seen anything like this since the start of the year,
said Rose Asejo, an official at the national weather bureau. "It's
a super typhoon with a wider coverage and very strong winds."
The weather was already worsening.
Attempts to reach the towns with the country's few rescue helicopters
failed and a navy ship ferrying relief supplies to Real was stuck there
due to high waves and logs in the sea.
Soldiers helping in rescue efforts faced the added danger of attacks
by communist rebels, who have a strong presence in the Sierra Madre
mountains along the eastern coastline.
The military said 10 soldiers were killed and six wounded in an
ambush by New People's Army rebels in Bulacan province on Tuesday.
Some flood victims had lucky escapes.
One 20-year-old man and his heavily pregnant wife were swept along in
a flooded river for two hours, surviving by clinging to a water jug and
a banana crate before being fished out by a local resident, the
Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
