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Several dead after heavy rains trigger floods in north China, Philippines

At least 15 people died during unseasonably heavy rain and flooding in north China's Shanxi province and nine lost their lives after rain across the Philippines flooded villages and triggered landslides.

AFP

Rescuers evacuate residents in a flooded area after heavy rainfalls in Jiexiu, in Jinzhong city, China's northern Shanxi province on October 10, 2021.

At least 15 people have died during unseasonably heavy rain and flooding in north China's Shanxi province and nine people lost their lives in the Philippines after severe tropical storm Kompasu drenched swathes of the country's most populous Luzon island, officials have said.

At least 60 coal mines in the province – one of China's top coal-producing regions – had temporarily closed due to the floods, but now all but four have returned to normal operation, local emergency management official Wang Qirui said at a press conference on Tuesday.

The flooding hit the coal-rich landlocked region during a nationwide energy crunch, and after record floods killed more than 300 people in central Henan province in July.

Wang said around 19,000 buildings were destroyed by the extreme weather, with 18,000 others "seriously damaged".

"Fifteen people died due to the disaster, and three people remain missing," he added.

At least 1.75 million residents across the province have been affected by the floods, with 120,000 safely evacuated, according to Wang.

AFP

A flooded area after heavy rainfall in Jiexiu in the city of Jinzhong in China's northern Shanxi province, October 10, 2021.

Nine dead in Philippines storm

At least nine people have been killed and 11 others missing after heavy rain across the Philippines flooded villages and triggered landslides, authorities said.

Severe Tropical Storm Kompasu drenched swathes of the most populous island of Luzon on Monday as it swept across the archipelago nation towards the South China Sea.

Four people were killed in landslides in the landlocked mountainous province of Benguet, and one person drowned in the coastal province of Cagayan, the national disaster agency said.

Seven people were missing on Luzon island.

"Eleven municipalities were flooded but it subsided this morning," Cagayan provincial information officer Rogelio Sending said.

Major highways and bridges were flooded, he said, but the water was retreating on Tuesday.

AFP

Rescuers evacuate residents from their homes near a swollen river due to heavy rains brought about by Tropical Storm Kompasu in Gonzaga town, Cagayan province, north of Manila on October 11, 2021.

The storm intensified the southwest monsoon, sparking a flash flood in a village in the western island province of Palawan, leaving four people dead and the same number missing.

"Around seven to eight barangays (villages) are still flooded... due to clogged drainage or lack of drainage," said Earl Timbancaya, a disaster officer in the city of Puerto Princesa on Palawan.

"But it's subsiding now."

The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons every year, which typically wipe out harvests, homes and infrastructure in already impoverished areas.

Because a warmer atmosphere holds more water, climate change increases the risk and intensity of flooding from extreme rainfall.