Khaberni - Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of emergency on Thursday after Hurricane Kalamaiji left at least 241 dead and missing in the central provinces, in the worst natural disaster to hit the country this year.
The authorities stated that the hurricane resulted in at least 114 deaths, mostly due to drowning in sudden floods, while another 127 people are still missing, many of them in the heavily affected Cebu province, before the hurricane left the Philippine archipelago on Wednesday, heading to the South China Sea.
The government clarified that the hurricane affected about two million people, and caused the displacement of more than 560,000 villagers, including about 450,000 who were evacuated to emergency shelters.
The declaration of the state of emergency came during a meeting of President Marcos with disaster management officials to assess the impact of the hurricane, indicating that the decision will allow the government to disburse emergency funds more quickly, as well as prevent the monopolization of food supplies and price hikes.
