Emergency workers sought on Saturday to more than 800 people missing in the southern Philippines after floods and mudslides whole houses dragged to the sea, killing more than 650 residents in areas poorly prepared for withstand typhoons.
Cagayan de Oro and the nearby city of Iligan, in Mindanao, were the worst affected by Typhoon Washi during Friday morning that sent torrents of water and mud down the coastal villages.
The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC, for its acronym in English) estimated that 652 people died in eight provinces in the southern region of Mindanao, with more than 800 missing.
"Our office has been inundated with requests for help finding missing relatives, children and family," he told reporters Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the PNRC.
"We are helping coordinate the search with the local government, the army, police and other aid agencies," he said.
The floods swept away whole houses with families in the inner coastal villages near Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
"This is the first time this has happened in our city," said Vicente Eman, mayor of Cagayan de Oro, in a radio interview. He said that officials in the area had not received adequate warnings before the arrival of the typhoon.
The final report of a government disaster agency said 332 people died and 281 were missing. He said warnings were issued as appropriate to the officials and residents three days before the arrival of the typhoon on Friday.
Emergency officials and health just were overwhelmed to deal with dozens of bodies have been recovered. Some were even stacked one above the other in the morgue.
"I saw the bodies of women and children, not less than 100," said local radio Jejomar Binay Vice President, while visiting the most devastated areas in Cagayan de Oro.
Binay distributed food parcels and ordered the relocation of families living near waterways or on hillsides.
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Philippines seeks missing, 650 killed by typhoon