THE number of deaths from a powerful storm that hit the Philippines on Christmas has climbed to 41, said authorities today, with tens of thousands still at evacuation centres.

Typhoon Phanfone left the country yesterday after devastating several islands in the central Visayas, including popular tourism destinations, but the extent of the damage continues to grow as assessments come in.

The death toll of 41 – up from 28 on Friday – included three boat crewmen who died after their vessel capsized due to strong winds, a policeman electrocuted by a toppled post and a man struck by a felled tree.

“We’re hoping that there will be no more fatalities,” national disaster agency spokesman Mark Timbal told AFP, with authorities still searching for 12 missing people.

The latest agency report showed that more than 1.6 million people are affected by the typhoon, which damaged some 260,000 houses and forced almost 100,000 people to flee to emergency shelters.

Many of the affected residents in the predominantly Catholic nation celebrated Christmas at these shelters, where they may have to stay until the New Year given the scale of destruction.

The government estimated that the storm has caused damage to agriculture and infrastructure worth US$21 million (RM86 million).

Electricity and internet services remain down in some areas after Phanfone’s powerful wind gusts of up to 200kph brought down utility posts and trees. – AFP, December 29, 2019.