Strong winds and giant waves, boosted by a south-west monsoon, have wiped out hundreds of shacks on stilts and left thousands of people homeless in the southern Philippines, local government officials said on Thursday.
An undetermined number of people were missing after giant waves swept four coastal villages out to sea, said the governor of the Tawi-tawi chain of islands near the Malaysian borders.
One child was reported killed but many survived because most of the homes belonged to the Badjao tribe, strong swimmers famed for their skill in diving for pearls, Sahali Sadikul told reporters.
The stormy weather was not related to a super typhoon churning towards China’s south-east coast on Thursday, a forecaster said.
Nearly 3 000 people were brought to a mosque and several public schools serving as temporary shelter centres as soldiers and police officers searched the sea for survivors.
”It’s like a thief in the night,” said Albert Que, a local mayor. ”Most of the people were caught by surprise as winds and waves ate their homes before dawn on Thursday.”
Que appealed for food, warm clothes and other relief materials for the displaced.
Philippine disaster officials are currently sending emergency supplies to nearly 40 000 people sheltering from a possible violent volcanic eruption in the centre of the archipelago.
Extreme weather and natural disasters often hit the Philippines, which sits on a seismically active stretch of the Pacific basin. — Reuters