10 October 2009
The rising toll from Typhoon Parma in the Philippines
Posted by Dave Petley
Latest update on the landslides in the Philippines here.
The death toll in the Philippines from Typhoon Parma continues to rise. Fortunately, according to the track map (from here) the storm has now moved out into the South China Sea and is heading for Hainan Island in China:
In its wake the typhoon has left a train of landslide devastation. Combining reports from inquirer.net and GMANews.tv, the picture appears to be as follows:
Total death toll in the Cordillera region is 214-222 people. A further 53 people are reported to be missing. Most of the deaths are from landslides.
The largest event occurred at Barangay Puguis in La Trinidad town, where 64 people are known to have died and a further 24 are reported to be buried in the debris. At Barangay Abatan in Buguias a further 19 people were killed in a signle landslide.
Reuters have published the following images of the landslides in the Bagui area:
Whilst AP has published this one:
If anyone in the Philippines has any further information I would be really pleased to hear from them.
Latest update here.
Dave Petley is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. His blog provides commentary and analysis of landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, latest research, and conferences and meetings.