An aerial view of the flooded areas at Tzu Chi VIllage in Barangay Liloan, Phillipines, December 17, 2017 in this picture obtained from social media. (ORMOC CITY POLICE OFFICE/via REUTERS)
More than 30 people are dead and 89,000 are in shelters because of a slow-moving, fierce storm that caused major flooding and landslides in central Philippines, officials said Sunday.
Twenty-three people were missing mostly because of landslides caused by flooding from Tropical Storm Kai-Tak, which weakened into a tropical depression and moved southwestward on Sunday, according to local officials and police.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council is working to confirm the reported deaths caused by the storm. Thousands of Christmas holiday travelers also were stranded because of canceled interisland flights and ferries.
MAGNITUDE 6.0 EARTHQUAKE STRIKES ECUADOR COAST
Kai-tak, known locally as Urduja, has remained almost stationary over the eastern section of the central Philippines in recent days — drenching island provinces, setting off landslides and floods and knocking out power in some areas.
President Rodrigo Duterte said he would visit the storm-hit region.
About 20 typhoons and storms — mostly from the Pacific — lash the Philippines each year, making the poor country of more than 100 million people one of the most disaster-prone in the world.
The Associate Press contributed to this report.
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