Two killed, nine missing, over 46,000 displaced as floods ravage Philippines on Christmas Day

At least two people have been confirmed killed, nine missing and over 46,000 displaced following Christmas Day floods in the southern Philippines region of Mindanao, the country’s civil defence officials said Monday.

The floods on Sunday was as s result of heavy monsoon rains that started on Saturday night and continued unabated for several hours.

“The disaster dampened celebrations on the mainly Catholic nation’s most important holiday as many people were evacuated when their homes were destroyed,” the officials said.

“The waters rose above the chest in some areas, but today the rains have ceased,” civil defence worker Robinson Lacre told journalists in Gingoog city, which accounted for 33,000 of the 45,700 people evacuated from their homes.

The city coastguard, in a statement, said it rescued members of more than two dozen families in Ozamiz city and Clarin town at the height of the flooding.

Read also:UN agency says 4.4m Nigerians affected by floods since July

The coastguard also said strong winds and big waves sank a fishing boat on Christmas Day off the coast of the central island of Leyte, killing two crew members, while six others were rescued.

“The central and southern Philippines have been hit with bad weather as the disaster-prone nation of 110 million people began a long Christmas holiday.

“Millions of people travel to their hometowns for family reunions during this period,” local media reports as well.

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