Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines, said that he would visit the areas in southern and central Brazil on Saturday to assess the extent of the damage. The government was trying to determine how much money it could raise to help with disaster response.
Duterte stated that Covid-19 spending has already depleted the budget for this year.
Duterte stated that he is not worried about structural damage in a televised meeting with disaster officials.
“My fear is that many people will die,” he said. Ricardo Jalad (undersecretary at the disaster agency), said that he was as eager to visit there as you are to see for yourself.
Jalad stated that the death toll was preliminary. He was waiting for information from provincial units to complete damage assessments.
The majority of reported deaths were caused by drowning and fallen trees.
Typhoon Rai, with winds up to 121 mph before it made landfall on Thursday in the Philippines, caused more than 300,000. It also damaged homes, toppled power lines and disrupted communications, making it difficult to respond to disasters.
Rai was once a Category 5 storm at one time. However, it was later weakened and was due out of the Philippines on Saturday. On average, the country experiences 20 typhoons per year.
“It isn’t expected to cause major damage in comparison to typhoons of the similar strength previously,” stated Casiano Monilla assistant secretary at the Office of the Civil Defence.
Arthur Yap, Bohol’s provincial governor, appealed for assistance as flooding had hampered rescue efforts.
He said that families are now trapped on rooftops and told DZBB radio.
The 15th typhoon to hit the archipelago this calendar year saw many flights cancelled and paralysed at various ports. This left approximately 4,000 people without power.
Authorities postponed mass vaccination drives in many regions.
