The death toll from typhoon Emong (international codename Chan-hom) rose to 36 on Sunday, with 12 people still reported missing, officials said. Officials have expressed fears the death toll could exceed 40 as reports kept pouring in from provinces battered by Emong, the sixth storm to swept the Philippines this year. The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said at least 36 people have been reported killed in landslides, collapsing houses and drowning. At least 16 of the 36 fatalities were reported in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), 17 in Region I, one in Region II and two in Region III. The typhoon displaced more than 30,000 families who have taken shelter in evacuation centers, with friends and relatives, the NDCC said. Most of the 12 people reported missing could have drowned at sea, official said. Damage to infrastructure and crops was put at P411.2 million ($9 million) so far, the NDCC said. The worst hit area was the cape of Bolinao in Pangasinan province where at least 12 villagers died when landslides triggered by the continuous rains crushed houses and toppled power lines, officials said on Saturday. Dr. Anthony Golez, spokesperson for the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), said around 40 people were also injured. He said about 822 families are housed in evacuation centers.Golez feared a possible spread of diseases in evacuation centers is a major consideration at the moment. Golez praised the Department of Health for the “quick dispatch of medical surveillance teams.” The country's weather bureau Pagasa, meantime, brought some good tidings that no other typhoon had been sighted until Sunday. “We don't see any low pressure area or tropical cyclone either inside or outside the Philippines that could bring again tremendous amounts of rainfall,” said Nathaniel Cruz, Pagasa's chief weather forecaster.” “We don't see any reason why there will be flooding,” he added. Cruz said “summer, the dry season is almost over” and that the rainy season has come earlier that usual. “Normally, the start of the rainy season is during the second half of May,” Cruz said. “What happened in March, April and, of course the first week of May, “is quite unusual,” he said. “The rainy season started almost very early, almost before the end of April because of the passage of three tropical cyclones – Crising , Dante and Emong.” Pagasa's chief weather forecaster advised the public to prepare for the upcoming typhoon season. “Most of these (typhoons) will cross the country in the coming months,” said Cruz.
