Twenty-nine people are dead or missing and around 50,000 have been left homeless as widespread flooding hit the eastern seaboard of the Philippines, rescuers said Thursday.
Heavy monsoon rains this week flooded 48 towns and cities on the eastern coast of the main islands of Luzon and Mindanao, bringing misery to more than 400,000 people, the civil defence office here said.
Thirteen people drowned in Cagayan, Isabela, and Aurora provinces while another person died from severe dehydration in Cagayan. Fifteen others are missing -12 in Camarines Norte province and three in Isabela, it said in a report.
The rampaging waters wrecked nearly 10,000 houses and nearly 24,000 people remained at more than 100 temporary government shelters, it said.
Nearly 113,000 other people needed other forms of emergency assistance, it added.
Roads, bridges, and school buildings were also seriously affected, and some roads in the Bicol peninsula southeast of Manila remained impassable.
The government is using military helicopters, earthmoving equipment, as well as navy and coastguard units in the rescue and relief effort, the report said.