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Destruction on the Philippine island of Cebu
Photo: Jay Labra / dpa
More than a hundred people lost their lives in the Philippines as a result of the super typhoon "Rai".
The authorities reported 108 fatalities by Sunday, and many more are still missing after the worst typhoon in the Southeast Asian island nation this year.
More than 300,000 people had to flee, many of them unable to return to their homes.
"Rai", called "Odette" by the locals, swept across the southern and central regions of the Philippines on Thursday and Friday.
Roofs flew off houses, electricity pylons fell and numerous villages were flooded.
In many areas the power supply and the telephone network are paralyzed.
The governor of the Bohol holiday region, Arthur Yap, said on his Facebook page on Sunday that the mayors of the devastated island had now reported 63 fatalities in their localities.
Ten other people died on the Dinagat Islands, a spokesman for the provincial authorities said.
This increased the total number of reported fatalities to 99.
However, the search and rescue work in the worst hit areas of the vast archipelago is far from over.
Thousands of forces from the military, police, coast guard and fire brigade are also using excavators to clear blocked roads and use ships to supply areas that have been cut off with water, food and medical aid.
Reconstruction will be "a long, hard road for the people," said the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the Philippines, Alberto Bocanegra.
In an appeal for donations, the aid organization asked for the equivalent of a good 19 million euros to finance urgent relief and reconstruction measures.
Vacationers are rescued by airplanes and boats
Serious damage was also caused on the holiday island of Siargao and the northern tip of Mindanao. "Everything flew through the air, it was like the end of the world," reported the tour guide Raphy Repdos from the island of Siargao, where a particularly large number of surfers and holidaymakers were staying in the run-up to Christmas. Aerial photographs released by the military showed that countless houses were destroyed in the most important island town, General Luna. On Sunday, tourists were taken off the island by plane and boat.
From the neighboring island of Dinagat, Governor Arlene Bag-ao reported that the entire island had been "razed to the ground."
Houses, boats and fields have been destroyed.
"Walls and roofs were torn down and blown away as if they were made of paper." The damage can be compared to that of super typhoon Haiyan in 2013.
At that time, more than 7,300 people were killed or have been missing since then.
"Rai" hit land on Siargao on Thursday with winds of up to 195 kilometers per hour.
The classification as a super typhoon corresponds to a category five hurricane in the United States.
Globally, around five storms of this strength usually occur each year.
"Rai" hit the Philippines at the end of the typhoon season.
Most violent cyclones develop between July and October.
kry / AFP
