New Philippine floods kill dozens

At least 100 people are thought to have been killed by flooding and landslides 1 triggered(触发) by heavy rain in the northern Philippines（菲律宾）, officials say.

Most of the deaths were in Benguet province, where landslides were reported to have hit several towns.

In Pangasinan province, accumulated flood water had to be released from dams, hampering 3 rescue（救援） efforts.

The country is dealing 4 with the aftermath of two major storms, Typhoons Ketsana and Parma.

Typhoon Ketsana left at least 300 people dead and hundreds of thousands stranded 5, while Typhoon Parma caused further damage just over a week later.

After the latest flooding, caused by rain from Typhoon Parma, the provincial 6 police chief in Benguet said 75 people were confirmed dead.

Other officials said as many as 100 people had been killed there.


Advertisement
Heavy rains continue to batter 7 the Philippines

Olive Luces, regional（区域） director of the Office of Civil Defence, said deaths had also occurred in Mountain province, where at least 28 people were reported missing.

"We are still accounting 8, but all in all our estimate is there were about 100 dead in the four major landslides," she said. "Retrieval operations are ongoing 9."

Seventeen people were reported to have died in the city of Baguio when landslides buried houses.

"The rains in this area are unprecedented," said Glen Rabonza, executive officer of the National Disaster Coordinating 10 Council (NDCC).

UN appeal

In Pangasinan province, where about 30 towns were said to have been flooded, dams had to be opened to release the pressure of accumulated flood water.


Benguet （本格特省）province had already been badly hit by storms
The NDCC said thousands of people had been stranded on rooftops and on higher ground.

The provincial governor of Pangasinan province, Amado Espino, told reporters that water released by the San Roque dam had flooded towns.

"The dam is supposed to be for flood control but now it is so filled it is like it is not there. The water just rushes right through from the mountains to Pangasinan."

Mr Espino said strong currents and continuing rain were making it hard to reach and rescue people in flooded areas.

The province's Vice 11 Governor, Marlyn Premicias, told the Associated Press she had been receiving text messages from people needing to be rescued.

"Eastern Pangasinan has become one big river," she said.

Lt Col Ernesto Torres of the NDCC told Reuters news agency that 30,000 people had been evacuated 12 in the province and 60-80% of the land was flooded.

The UN earlier appealed for $74m (£47m) to help victims of storms in the Philippines.

It says about 500,000 people have fled their homes and are still living in emergency（紧急） shelters and has warned of an urgent need for food, water, sanitation 13 facilities, emergency shelter and health care provisions.

Gwendolyn Pang 2 of the Philippine National Red Cross told the BBC that getting aid to those in need was difficult as travelling by land was often impossible.

"Most of the areas are impassable because of landslides and because of the flood water, so we need to airlift relief food and also do rescues by airlift," she said.

Typhoon Ketsana hit Manila and surrounding areas on 26 September, causing the worst flooding in the capital in more than four decades.

Eight days later, Parma blew across the country's mountainous north, bringing more rain. Meteorologists say the storm is still lingering off the coast of the Philippines. （本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）