The balance sheet is heavier in the Philippines after the passage of the most powerful typhoon of the year.
At least 23 people were killed, authorities said on Saturday, who reported "alarming" destruction on the islands.
More than 300,000 people have had to flee their homes since Thursday because of the storm that ravaged the south and center of the country, according to the National Agency of Natural Disasters of the Philippines.
Rai was described as a "super-typhoon" when it made landfall Thursday, on the tourist island of Siargao, accompanied by winds of 195 km / h.
By Friday, the wind speed had dropped to 155 km / h, according to the Philippine Meteorological Agency.
The typhoon swept across northern Palawan Island, a popular tourist destination late Friday afternoon, before heading out into the South China Sea towards Vietnam.
"Alarming" images
“This is one of the most powerful storms to hit the Philippines in December in the past decade,” said Alberto Bocanegra, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Cross Societies. Red Crescent in the Philippines.
"The information we receive and the images we receive are very alarming."
More than 18,000 military, police, coastguard and firefighters will join search and rescue efforts in the hardest hit areas, said Mark Timbal, spokesperson for the national disaster agency.
“There was significant damage” in Surigao and Siargao, the regions that suffered the most from the typhoon, he said.
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The Philippines hit by Typhoon Rai
The overall death toll is at least 23, according to official counts.
Power cuts are expected to affect the water supply, raising concerns about sanitary conditions.
“Our food and water reserves are dwindling.
Electricity and telecommunications are down, ”Governor Arlene Bag-ao said, adding that houses, boats and fields had been destroyed.
Global warming involved
On the island of Dinagat, where the typhoon killed six people in less than six months, residents "are trying to repair their houses because even the evacuation centers have been demolished" declared the vice-governor of this eastern province of Nilo Demerey country.
The Coast Guard shared photos on social media showing widespread destruction around Surigao, with roofs ripped from buildings and wooden structures shattered.
Aerial images show vast expanses of rice paddies underwater.
Red Cross teams in Negros, Philippines are working round the clock to help people who are stranded, with their homes destroyed and providing assistance at evacuation centers.
Entire villages on the island have been flattened by Typhoon # Rai, among the strongest storms of 2021 pic.twitter.com/wTJEAmloaG
- IFRC Asia Pacific (@IFRCAsiaPacific) December 18, 2021
Rai is a particularly late-season typhoon, with most tropical cyclones in the Pacific Ocean forming between July and October.
Scientists have long warned that typhoons are getting stronger and stronger as man-made global warming accelerates.