Typhoon death toll climbs to 18

Rescuers using backhoes and chainsaws began digging the Philippines out from the devastation of Typhoon Uwan on Tuesday, as floodwaters receded in hundreds of villages and the storm’s death toll climbed to 18.

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This photo shows an aerial view of a submerged under construction road with flood waters in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan province, north of Manila. AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

(AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE)

Uwan, which displaced 1.4 million people, had weakened into a severe tropical storm even as it began dumping rain on neighboring Taiwan ahead of an expected Wednesday landfall.

It was the second major typhoon to hit the Philippines in days, after Typhoon Kalmaegi last week rampaged through the archipelago’s central islands on its way to killing 232 people, according to the latest figures.

In coastal Isabela province, a town of 6,000 remained cut off from help on Tuesday, a civil defense spokesman told AFP, with parts of neighboring Nueva Vizcaya province similarly isolated.

“We are struggling to access these areas,” said Cagayan Valley region spokesman Alvin Ayson, who added that landslides had prevented rescuers from reaching affected residents.

Others were “now in evacuation centers, but when they get back to their homes, their rebuilding will take time and face challenges.”