By Xinhua,
Manila : The death toll of the tropical storm “Halong” in the Philippines has risen to 37 as situation reports from the affected provinces started to arrive, said the National Disaster Coordination Council (NDCC) on Wednesday.
In its latest bulletin, the NDCC said 16 others were injured in storm-related incidents while one person was missing.
NDCC said the Ilocos region in northern Luzon, in particular the Pangasinan province, was hardest hit.
“Halong”, locally known as “Cosme”, swept northern Luzon from Saturday to Monday.
NDCC officials said earlier tens of thousands of people were affected by the tropical storm which brought heavy rains and caused landslides and flooding in some provinces in northern and central Philippines.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said on Wednesday at least 70 schools were damaged by “Halong”.
Lapus said the government would fast-track the repair and rehabilitation of the damaged schools as school opening is scheduled next month.
“Halong” is the first big tropical storm to have visited the Philippines this year.