MANILA: At least 100 people have been killed in the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, official tallies showed Sunday, as efforts to deliver water and food to devastated islands ramped up.
More than 300,000 people fled their homes and beachfront resorts as Typhoon Rai ravaged the southern and central regions of the archipelago.
The storm knocked out communications and electricity in many areas, ripped off roofs, damaged hospitals, toppled concrete power poles and flooded villages.
Arthur Yap, governor of the popular tourist destination Bohol, said on his official Facebook page that mayors on the devastated island had so far reported 63 deaths in their towns.
Ten people also died on the Dinagat Islands, provincial information officer Jeffrey Crisostomo said.
That took the overall number of reported deaths to 99, according to the latest official figures.
But the toll was likely to rise as disaster agencies assessed the full extent of the death and destruction from the storm across the vast archipelago.
