The death toll from a storm that devastated the Philippines shortly after Christmas rose to 126, authorities said on Sunday, adding landslides caused by torrential rain were the top cause.

The storm hit central and eastern Philippine islands on December 29 and caused massive flooding and landslides. More than 100 people died in the mountainous Bicol region southeast of Manila, regional disaster officials said.

While the Bicol region is often hit by deadly typhoons, many people failed to take necessary precautions because the storm was not strong enough to be rated as a typhoon under the government's storm alert system, according to civil defence officials.

Officials also said that many residents were reluctant to leave their homes during the Christmas holidays.

"In two days alone, Usman poured more than a month's worth of rainfall in the Bicol region," said national disaster agency spokesperson Edgar Posadas, using the local name for the storm which had weakened into a low pressure area.

"Our search and retrieval operations are ongoing but the sticky mud and the unstable soil are a challenge."

The death toll was likely to climb further with 26 people still missing, Posadas added.

More than 152 000 people were displaced by the storm and 75 were injured, according to the national disaster agency.

President Rodrigo Duterte visited the storm-hit areas on Friday and urged officials to build evacuation centres instead of using schools as shelters for the displaced.

About 20 typhoons and storms batter the Philippines each year, killing hundreds of people.

The deadliest in recent years was Super Typhoon Haiyan which left more than 7 360 people dead or missing across the central Philippines in 2013.

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- FOLLOW News24 on Twitter </s> The storm struck the Philippines shortly after Christmas, with the number of fatalities expected to rise

This article is more than 8 months old

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The death toll from a storm that struck the Philippines shortly after Christmas rose to 68 with the number of fatalities expected to climb even higher, civil defence officials said Monday.

Fifty-seven people died in the mountainous Bicol region, southeast of Manila, while 11 were killed in the central island of Samar, mostly due to landslides and drownings, the officials said.

“I am afraid this [death toll] will still go up because there are a lot of areas we still have to clear,” said Claudio Yucot, Bicol civil defence director.

Philippines: five years after Typhoon Haiyan Read more

The weather disturbance locally named Usman hit the country on Saturday. While it did not have powerful winds it brought heavy rains that caused floods and loosened the soil, triggering landslides in some areas.

Many people failed to take necessary precautions because Usman was not strong enough to be rated as a typhoon under the government’s storm alert system, Yucot said.

“People were overconfident because they were on [Christmas] vacation mode and there was no tropical cyclone warning,” he told AFP.

Although Usman has since moved westward away from the country, many affected areas were still experiencing seasonal rains, hampering rescue and recovery efforts, he added.

At least 17 people are still missing and more than 40,000 were displaced nationwide due to the storm, the civil defence office said.

An average of 20 typhoons and storms lash the Philippines each year, killing hundreds of people and leaving millions in near-perpetual poverty.

The most powerful was Super Typhoon Haiyan which left more than 7,360 people dead or missing across the central Philippines in 2013. </s> Another tropical storm, this one called Usman has so far killed at least 22 people as it passed through several provinces. The storm has triggered floods and landslides forcing villagers to flee to safer areas. The death toll is expected to rise.

More than 6,600 people have been stranded in various locations, while Cebu Air and national carrier Philippine Airlines have cancelled many flights from December 27 to 29.

Authorities report that the storm has forced the evacuation of at least 17,000 people in the Bicol region in the southern areas of the main Luzon island. Three are reported dead in Albay province due to a landslide. Another seven more were killed in Masbate, most of them drowning. Six more deaths were reported from Sorsogon and Camarines Sur provinces.

Civil defence officials report at least 16 people are reported bead in Bicol while six others were killed in Eastern Visayas.

Government forecasters said Sunday that heavy rain would continue over the next 24 hours in the northern Philippines.

About 20 cyclones pass through disaster-prone Philippines each year. </s> The storm hit central and eastern Philippine islands on December 29 and caused massive flooding and landslides. More than 100 people died in the mountainous Bicol region southeast of Manila, regional disaster officials said.

While the Bicol region is often hit by deadly typhoons, many people failed to take necessary precautions because the storm was not strong enough to be rated as a typhoon under the government's storm alert system, according to civil defence officials.

Officials also said that many residents were reluctant to leave their homes during the Christmas holidays.

"In two days alone, Usman poured more than a month's worth of rainfall in the Bicol region," national disaster agency spokesman Edgar Posadas told AFP, using the local name for the storm which had weakened into a low pressure area.

"Our search and retrieval operations are ongoing but the sticky mud and the unstable soil are a challenge."

The death toll was likely to climb further with 26 people still missing, Posadas added.

More than 152,000 people were displaced by the storm and 75 were injured, according to the national disaster agency.

President Rodrigo Duterte visited the storm-hit areas on Friday and urged officials to build evacuation centres instead of using schools as shelters for the displaced.

About 20 typhoons and storms batter the Philippines each year, killing hundreds of people.

The deadliest in recent years was Super Typhoon Haiyan which left more than 7,360 people dead or missing across the central Philippines in 2013.

Explore further: Typhoon Mangkhut bears down on millions in Philippines </s> At least 126 people have died and 26 are missing in floods, landslides and other incidents caused by storm Usman as it passed through the Philippines at the end of last year, officials said on Sunday.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the Philippine agency that coordinates information during disasters, estimated the number of people affected at more than 675,000, with 75 injured.

Out of the total number of people affected, 58,000 remain in emergency shelters set up in the central and northern regions of the country which were most-severely affected. More than 9,500 homes were damaged.

The tropical storm made landfall in the central Philippines on Dec. 29.

Local authorities declared a state of calamity in Camarines Sur, a province in Bicol region, southeastern Luzon, and which has a population of almost 2 million.

The Philippines is hit by between 15 and 20 typhoons each year during the rainy season, which usually begins in May or June and ends in November or December. </s> Powerful typhoon passes over Manila after forcing more than 200,000 to spend Christmas Day in evacuation centres.

A powerful typhoon has killed at least four people in the Philippines before passing over the capital Manila.

Typhoon Nock-Ten, known locally as Nina, made landfall on the eastern island province of Catanduanes on Christmas Day, moved westward on Monday, packing winds of up to 240kph and gusts of 290kph, government forecasters said.

Tens of thousands of villagers were displaced as the typhoon cut power to five provinces at the height of the storm.

A farmer died in Quezon province and three other villagers, including a couple, were swept away by a flash flood in Albay province.

Officials in Albay, where more than 150,000 villagers were displaced by the typhoon, declared a "state of calamity" to allow faster disbursement of emergency funds.

More than 218,000 people had fled their homes while 48 domestic and international flights were cancelled, the civil defence office said, as the unusually late typhoon marred Christmas celebrations.

Dragging its way over the heavily populated provinces of Batangas and Cavite, Nock-Ten was expected to exit over the South China Sea later on Monday.

The bustling metropolis of Manila, home to about 13 million people, was eerily quiet the day after Christmas with the usual holiday revellers staying indoors as heavy rains and winds lashed the city.

The civil defence office had warned that the capital could suffer "heavy to intense rains, flashfloods and severe winds", with rescue boats ready to be deployed in case the rivers overflow.

An average of 20 storms and typhoons strike the Philippines each year, killing hundreds of people.

Nock-Ten was not the first typhoon to hit the Philippines on Christmas Day but it was the strongest . The other two typhoons to hit the islands on Christmas Day were category-2 Typhoon Jean in 1947 and category-2 Typhoon Lee in 1981.

Mammoth tsunami-like waves devastated the city of Tacloban and nearby areas when super typhoon Haiyan struck the central Philippines in November 2013, leaving 7,350 people dead or missing. </s> The Philippine coast guard is running a search for 18 missing crewmen of a cargo ship that was sunk by typhoon Nock-Ten, which left at least seven people dead as of Tuesday (27 December). The super storm ruined Christmas Day in the country, leaving close to 400,000 people displaced from their homes, and is now headed to the South China Sea.

Locally termed as Nina, the typhoon cut power to five provinces in the Philippines and led to the disruption of over 300 flights in the past two days. Six casualties from the typhoon were recorded in Albay and Quezon provinces, while a sailor of the sunken cargo ship also died.

The typhoon first made landfall in Bicol Islands on Sunday (25 December) evening and hit Batangas province and capital Manila on its way out of the country. According to national weather agency Pagasa, after hitting Manila, the typhoon weakened to a severe tropical storm with wind speeds of up to 120kmph and gusts of 180kmph.

The Associated Press quoted coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo as saying that they have rescued 14 crewmen of the M/V Starlite Atlantic, which sank off Mabini town in Batangas province when the powerful typhoon passed through on Monday (26 December). He added that one sailor died and 18 others are missing, but a search was underway.

Balilo said the ship sought cover in an anchorage area as the typhoon passed, but was caught in huge waves and fierce winds, causing it to sink. He added that another cargo ship ran aground in Mabini.

Typhoon Nock-Ten is reportedly one of the strongest to hit the Philippines since Typhoon Haiyan left more than 7,300 people dead in 2014 and more than five million displaced.

The latest typhoon has completely devastated Virac, a city on the eastern island province of Catanduanes, military spokesman Brig Gen Restituto Padilla said, AP reported. He added that the coconut plantations that are the primary industry for the 70,000 odd population of the town were completely destroyed and may take five to 10 years to recover.

President Rodrigo Duterte is reportedly scheduled to visit the town to distribute relief materials to the affected families. </s> The number of people killed in the Philippines by typhoon Mangkhut rose to 25 on Sunday while dozens are missing, according to provisional data gathered as emergency teams access areas struck by the storm.

Presidential adviser Francis Tolentino, sent by President Rodrigo Duterte to monitor the response to the disaster in affected areas, confirmed these figures to reporters in Cagayan province, where the season's most powerful typhoon entered the country on Saturday morning. </s> Philippines searches for 18 crewmen of ship sunk by typhoon

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine coast guard pressed its search Tuesday for 18 missing Filipino crewmen from a cargo ship that sank at the height of Typhoon Nock-Ten, which struck the country on Christmas Day, spoiling holiday celebrations in Asia's largest Catholic nation.

Coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo said 14 other crewmen have been rescued and one died after the M/V Starlite Atlantic sank off Mabini town in Batangas province, where the powerful typhoon passed Monday on its way out of the country into the South China Sea.

The ship sought cover in an anchorage area as the typhoon passed and its crew decided to move to safer waters but encountered huge waves and fierce winds, causing it to sink, Balilo said, adding that another cargo ship ran aground in Mabini.

At least seven people died from the typhoon, including the sunken ship's crewman and villagers who drowned from flooding or were pinned by fallen trees or a collapsed wall in Albay and Quezon provinces.

President Rodrigo Duterte was to fly to the hard-hit town of Virac on the eastern island province of Catanduanes, where the typhoon made landfall on Sunday night, to distribute food packs to residents. Ahead of the president's visit, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and top military officials flew to Virac and were stunned by the extent of devastation.

"Their common perception is that Virac is completely devastated," military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said of the coastal town of more than 70,000 people. The province's coconut plantations, the primary industry, were destroyed and may take five to 10 years to recover, he said.

Nock-Ten, locally known as Nina, forced more than 420,000 villagers to abandon their Christmas celebrations for emergency shelters and other safer grounds. It also knocked down power in several provinces, dimming holiday festivities. More than 300 flights were delayed or rescheduled and ferries were barred from sailing, stranding more than 12,000 holiday travelers.

The storm was one of the strongest to hit the Philippines since Typhoon Haiyan left more than 7,300 people dead or missing and displaced over 5 million in 2014. But officials in some provinces initially found it difficult to convince people to abandon their Christmas celebrations and head for the shelters before the storm hit. Some officials said they had to impose forced evacuations.

About 20 typhoons and storms lash the Philippines each year. In the past 65 years, seven typhoons have hit on Christmas Day, the Southeast Asian nation's biggest holiday.
The death toll from a storm that devastated the Philippines shortly after Christmas rises to 126.