Typhoons leave at least 116 dead in Philippines in 2015

By Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines

At least 116 people were killed as a result of 14 typhoons that hit the Philippines this year, causing more than $380 million in damage.

Citing data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, The Philippine Star reported Monday that of the tropical storms that swept through the archipelago, Typhoon Koppu – locally known as Lando – was the deadliest, leaving 48 people dead in October.

Typhoon Melor -- renamed Nona – came in second, claiming 42 lives in the the northern Luzon and Eastern Visayas islands earlier this month.

Still reeling from the typhoons that slammed the country in 2014, the Philippines suffered P18.2 billion in damage to agriculture and infrastructure in 2015 – a figure equivalent to more than one-third of its budget deficit, according to the newspaper.

Koppu also ranked as the most destructive storm, with its rains triggering floods and landslides in Luzon that caused P11 billion in damage.

Meanwhile, the agricultural and infrastructure damage from Melor added up to P6.46 billion.

Alexander Pama, the Council’s executive director, told The Star that while the Philippines had enhanced its ability to prepare for disasters, there was room for more improvement.

“We have seen and experienced the effects of strong typhoons. The effect of the typhoons in 2015 was invariably strong,” he said. “Aside from the strength the unpredictability became a challenge for us in terms of pre-disaster risk reduction.”

Pama stressed the need for some local governments to develop their method of responding to calamities.

“We need to work on number one, the cooperation of the people. We still need to convince some people who are hardheaded,” he added. “Some local government units have to study and understand the proper procedures.”

The Philippines suffers around 20 typhoons and storms each year, many of them deadly.

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan -- one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded -- struck the country's central islands, leaving more than 8,000 people dead, missing and injured.