Severe weather is continuing to affect wide areas of the Philippines, where the country’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reports that 38 people have lost their lives in floods and landslides since the start of January 2023.
A combination of Low-Pressure Areas, the Northeast Monsoon and Shear Line storms triggered as many as 1,252 flood incidents and 101 landslides from 01 January to 21 January, according to data from NDRRMC.
Almost 2 million people have now been impacted by the severe weather across 51 provinces in 14 of the country’s 17 regions. The provinces with the highest numbers affected (as of 21 January) are Northern Samar (348,519 people affected); Eastern Samar (340,154); Samar (185,273); Zamboanga Del Norte (182,431); Leyte (145,509); Palawan (104,868); Zamboanga Del Sur (97,746); Bulacan (84,383); and Davao Del Norte (80,082).
Over 1,200 houses have been damaged and 548 destroyed. The overall number of those displaced has fallen from around 170,000 as of 19 January to 119,121 people on 21 January. Around 90,000 are currently housed in 350 evacuation centres. Over half of that number were in evacuation centres in Northern Samar.
Of the 38 fatalities reported, 19 had been confirmed by NDRRMC in Eastern Samar Province (2); Leyte (3); Northern Samar (2); Zamboanga Del Norte (7); Zamboanga Del Sur (2); Misamis Oriental (2) and Davao Del Norte (1). Furthermore, 12 people have been injured and 5 people reported missing.
